F1 News: Aerial Footage Reveals Las Vegas GP Construction Progress - An Update
Footage has been shared to Instagram by Maverick Helicopters revealing the progress of the construction for the Las Vegas Grand Prix which will be taking place on Saturday 18th November.
The track utilise the streets of downtown Las Vegas. According to the Formula 1 website, it will be 6.12km long with 14-turns and will play with some of the most iconic sights in the city such as the Venetian, the Bellagio, and Caesars Palace.
Although it is a street circuit, there is still a large amount of work planned to build the track into what it needs to be for November. As stated on Coliseum Online, the entirety of the route will be dug up and rebuilt with this building work anticipated to begin in April.
Construction is already underway a few blocks away from the Strip, behind Planet Hollywood, which is where the race headquarters will stand. The 39-acre plot was bought by F1 for almost $240 million and we can see from the video shared by Maverick Helicopters that work has started on the garages, pit lane, and headquarters. It also shares the fact that the paddock building will be 300,000 square feet.
The work still seems to be in the early stages. However, it looks as though the foundations are now in and steel frames have been erected for the garages.
British F1 journalist Joe Saward reported in his Green Notebook in October the plans for the pits and paddock. He wrote:
“It all seems quite impressive, and I am told the big push will be to promote the facilities as being the most technologically-advanced building in the world.
Saward continued to add that the organisers are wanting to make it as sustainable and energy efficient as possible which ties in with the sports aim of being carbon neutral by 2030. He added:
“This will be a useful promotional tool for the sport. I am told that it will not only be sustainable but will be so efficient that it will balance all emissions created during construction and even, perhaps, in the manufacturing of all materials required for the construction.
The journalist also revealed that a covered paddock will be built with a bridge linking the pit buildings and offices.
“From what I hear there will be a covered paddock, between the pit buildings and the team offices, and there will be bridges linking the two, so that VIPs can swan around without getting in the way as much as they currently do.
The Vegas Grand Prix is in contract with F1 until the end of the 2025 season.