LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The stars were shining bright in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Celebrities from on and off the Formula 1 grid walked the black carpet ahead of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix. One of the common messages to the valley community was thank you.
"What a lot of work it has been. It's very exciting. F1 in Las Vegas, we are not used to being in cities that do not sleep. Sin City always keep on going and there's always something," said Guenther Steiner, the Team Principal for Haas Racing. "I think what the organizers have done here with the Grand Prix, from the conception to make it happen, is something astonishing. All the population, for sure in the short-term, sometimes it was a little bit not so nice. When you do something different and for the first time, there will be some inconveniences. But I think we got the support and they have been great to let us do this. Thank you to all the Las Vegans for their help to make this happen."
Two Las Vegas locals who know exactly how those inconveniences have been include Wayne Newton and Donny Osmond. Newton said he understands the frustration but the event is a great way to spotlight the city.
"I think [locals] are entitled to feel that way but you can get a little spoiled with the fact we're going to have to put up with the traffic of California and the rest of it. For a very short period of time, this has brought that to reality for our city. I think they'll get over it and they'll be excited when it's done," Newton said.
For Osmond, it was only a matter of time before Formula 1 came back to town.
"[Las Vegas] is the entertainment capital of the world. F1 is the biggest sport in the world. F1, in my opinion, is showy. It's another type of show business. It's a hand-in-glove situation," Osmond said. "I live here. The traffic has been horrendous. But the locals, eventually, are going to embrace this thing completely and they're going to realize how important F1 is to Las Vegas."
Osmond was also selected to perform the National Anthem ahead of the race. He said he couldn't believe he was chosen.
"Out of all the people they could have picked as entertainers in Las Vegas, they picked me so I've got to get it right and I'm going to go for the high note at the end."
He added that he is also a Grand Prix winner, so to speak.
"In 1991, at the Pro Celebrity Tournament at the Long Beach Grand Prix, I won the race," Osmond said smiling. "Parnelli Jones was the pro against me and he couldn't catch me. I am a Grand Prix winner that's going to sing the anthem tonight."
According to Osmond, he thinks Charles Leclerc will win. However, he would like to see Logan Sargeant do well.
"My son Josh is an F1 fanatic and he wanted 1 and 2 to be Ferraris. It's too bad that Sainz got the penalty but it makes for an interesting start. You've got Ferrari. You've got Red Bull and you've got Mercedes. Three different teams competing neck and neck. It's going to make the start that much more interesting versus the Ferraris in front," Osmond said. "I like to go for an underdog. I'm looking at Logan right now. Think about it. He was dead last in the statistics and he's at pole number six. I'm going to watch him closely tonight. Whether he wins or not, I don't know but I'll be watching him. However, my money's on Leclerc."
Going into the race, driver Alex Albon, from Williams Racing, said the track could present a challenge for drivers early on in the race.
"The main thing is the track gets opened up to the public every day. You've got all those trucks going around. There's alcohol on the track. There's all kinds of stuff over here and it makes the track super slippery," Albon said. "For the first 10 laps of the race, they'll be a nightmare. Until the track starts to get, what we call F1 rubber, coming down the track, it will be a lot about just keeping out of the walls."
While Red Bull driver Max Verstappen questioned the showiness of the "spectacle" around the race, others disagreed with him and said it's what the sport needs.
"It's what F1 needs right now. We're at such a peak time in the sport. To be able to combine so many people in so many areas to make this come together, it's special to be here," said Alpine driver Jack Doohan. "I think the personality is that it's a night race. We're at a such a different time of day than when we're usually racing. It's very cold temperatures so it should be difficult, super hard for the drivers. It's a super long straight so very interesting racing. I think for spectacle, for driving, for the sport, it should be an interesting race tonight."
"As far as I have talked with the drivers, it's not a Mickey Mouse track. It's a ballsy track. It's very fast," Steiner said. "Some of the corners, Turn 17, I was told is pretty tough for the drivers. I think it has character. For the show element, in F1, the race is the most important thing. Having all the show elements around it, it's fantastic."
