Will the Las Vegas Grand Prix survive?

Equal parts hype and horsepower, this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is the most talked about sporting event of the year. For the first time, Formula One will take to the strip, with 20 cars screaming past the floodlit Venetian Caesar’s Palace and the faux Eiffel Tower at 200mph.

Certainly, it lost its shirt on Thursday when a loose drain cover damaged the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon. The first practice session was cancelled after just eight minutes while someone went to fetch some fresh concrete. The second and final of the night’s practice sessions was delayed and extended, finishing at 3.30 a.m. on Friday and waking up anyone who wasn’t in a nightclub or at a card table. Racegoers who had paid thousands to see some track action were moved on from the grandstands hours earlier. There are concerns that this embarrassment, somewhat reminiscent of the 2005 F1 race in Indianapolis where the American crowd saw only six cars race due to a tyre issue, could hamper F1’s recent and dramatic growth on this side of the pond.