‘This place is awesome’: F1 fans excited to be in Vegas

Amid drizzly, chilly weather Friday night, thousands of Formula One fans came out to the Strip for the second day of the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend.

“This place is awesome!,” exclaimed Jackson Kuhns, a tween who convinced his family to pack their bags and travel from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas for Formula 1.

This is Jackson’s first F1 race ever after he became interested in the sport last year. Now, it’s become a family affair, with Jackson, his three siblings and parents all in town for the event.

On Friday, Jackson could be found at the F1 Arcade inside the Forum Shops using one of their driver simulators to go head-to-head with his dad Matthew. Decked out in McLaren gear, Jackson pretended to be in the front seat just like his favorite driver Lando Norris.

“I like how races are across the world,” said Jackson. “I want to go to all of them one day.”

The family has tickets to Saturday’s race, and they will be sitting near the T-Mobile Arena so that Jackson can fulfill his need for speed.

The third annual Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, which culminates in Saturday’s 8 p.m. race after practice and qualifying sessions Thursday and Friday, saw autoracing fans converging on the Strip Friday as the weather turned wet and slightly rainy and the temperature dipped into the low 50s.

The race itself is a 50-lap contest that sees the F1 cars zooming down a 3.8-mile circuit mainly comprised of public roads including Las Vegas Boulevard, Koval Lane and Harmon and Sands avenues.

On Saturday, roads within the circuit are set to close at 3 p.m. and are planned to reopen at 2 a.m. Sunday.

Leclerc latte

Victoria Han had her own pit stop inside Cafe Lola at the Forum Shops to sip on a “Formu Latte.” On top of the salted caramel latte, customers can get their favorite F1 driver printed on top.

For Han, that was Charles Leclerc. Han and five friends came from all over the country — San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles — to convene for a girls weekend filled with fun and F1.

The girls got brunch and did some shopping while also flexing their F1 knowledge.

“I think there should be more crossover,” said Han about women being involved in F1.

Saw Lewis Hamilton in the Wynn

The wet weather did not dampen the spirit of 7-year-old Lawrence Bolder Jr. and his father, who were in Las Vegas for their second grand prix experience together.

Earlier in the day, the younger Bolder caught a glimpse of his favorite driver, Lewis Hamilton, walking through the Wynn.

“He’s shorter in real life,” the youngster said with a little giggle. “We saw him last year, too.”

Bolder Sr. said the father-son duo made a last-minute decision to come last year, and had “the time of our lives,” for two days. This year, they planned their three-day excursion months in advance. Their matching F1 ballcaps supported that story.

“It’s all he’s been talking about,” Bolder Sr. said of his son. “I think we created something. Three years it becomes a tradition, right?”

‘Very long lines’

Jun Li and Yajin Chen, from California, were not aware that the F1 race would be taking place during their Las Vegas visit.

“Very long lines everywhere we go to eat,” Li said, adding that they’ve made friends with others while waiting to get into restaurants this week. “Nice surprise.”

His traveling companion agreed. Chen, who was visiting the city for the first time, said people have been “incredibly friendly,” from other visitors to casino employees.

“The employees mostly seem happy,” she said. “Lots of money, lots of tips, with all these people here.”

Li said he saw a group of F1 fans win a slot jackpot earlier in the week, although he admitted being a little jealous. But not of the jackpot winnings.

“They all had these really nice-looking leather jackets. I want to get one,” he said.

The energy makes it a great experience, fan says

Hailing from Serbia, Dina Dinovic waited in line for the F1 hub. This is her third F1 race ever and second in Las Vegas.

With a knack for engineering, Dinovic loves to see the relationship between the drivers and the cars.

“So I feel like Formula One is a really kind of good extension of the car world,” said Dinovic.

This weekend she’s excited to see if there will be any shift from Piastri and Norris. But her favorite team currently is Mercedes.

She’ll be getting up close with the race, viewing from the grandstands near Sphere, and encouraged people to simply visit and not buy a ticket.

“They could just be in town, and it’s a really great experience, because of the energy and everything,” said Dinovic. “People are really nice, and they’re all excited to see it.”

‘We kind of like this’

And don’t forget about the girls and F1 Academy. Wella was holding a pop-up for all the women in town, making sure their hair was looking right for the race.

Wella sponsors Joanne Ciconte, the youngest driver in the grid from F1 Academy, who drives a bespoke Wella Red MP car.

For free, women could make an appointment to get their hair done by a Wella stylist and choose from one of their hairstyles.

Abbey Polzin, from Houston, Texas, was getting her race-do done Friday evening. She got into F1 a couple years ago from a documentary series, and was most excited to see how Team McLaren and Lando Norris does this grand prix.

“We started watching the Netflix series, Drive to Survive. Then we were like, ‘We kind of like this,” said Polzin while getting her beach waves done. “We started watching it regularly, and got really into it.”

She’s most excited to see Lando Norris and Team McLaren this Grand Prix.

Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X. Contact David Danzis at ddanzis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0378. Follow @AC2Vegas_Danzis on X.