Each morning I remind myself that I’m the luckiest man on the planet, and that mantra continues to serve me properly. Just lately, the powers at be should have actually heard me, as a result of Mercedes-Benz invited me out to Las Vegas to expertise my very first Method 1 race. How did I get from Los Angeles to Vegas, you ask? Mercedes loaned me an astronomically highly effective 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT63 S E Efficiency 4-Door Coupe for simply the event, after which put me up in a Thirty third-floor room after I arrived for after I wasn’t rubbing shoulders with the elite. Not a nasty begin to a race weekend.
Method 1 has all the time been cool in my eyes, however I’ve dedication points, and of the only a few issues that I comply with intently on this world, none of them are sports activities. Over current years extra Individuals have woken up, smelled the fantastic race gas and found an appreciation for the game, so I figured it’s about time for me to provide it a good shot, too. From my restricted information of the game, I anticipated the expertise to be fairly opulent, however I by no means anticipated what was to come back from my weekend in Vegas by the hands of Mercedes.
Full disclosure: Mercedes-Benz loaned me an AMG GT63 S E Efficiency 4 Door Coupe to drive out to Vegas, put me up in a elaborate lodge, fed me a lot of scrumptious meals, and facilitated a very once-in-a-lifetime expertise for me. I obtained to take a seat passenger for a sizzling lap of the circuit, I obtained to satisfy the motive force who ended up profitable the race, I obtained to tour the pits and witness a number of the race from inside Mercedes’ storage. It was an excellent weekend, for which I’m past grateful.
Visiting fabulous Las Vegas is all the time an assault on the senses, be it the blinding lights on the strip, the style of meals from world-renowned eating places, or the arresting scent of Virginia Slim Menthols as you stroll via the crowded on line casino ground to achieve your lodge room. Once I pulled as much as the Wynn valet within the AMG GT, I used to be shocked by the hordes of race followers decked out of their gaudiest outfits topped off with a baseball cap emblazoned with their favourite race crew’s brand. There have been quite a few mannequin F1 vehicles contained in the foyer, and indicators welcoming followers so far as the attention may see. Think about me intimidated.
I rushed as much as my room to clean up earlier than what was described to me as an off-the-cuff dinner, and bopped again down to satisfy the chauffeur to get whisked away. We went to a decadent steakhouse, the place I used to be stunned to be guided previous all of the tables and to a non-public room that was totally padded in black tufted vinyl. The door opened and I out of the blue realized that our arrival was interrupting a really intimate question-and-answer session with the person who turned out to be the race winner later that weekend, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 driver George Russell. I slinked to my seat as shortly and quietly as a boisterous 6-foot-8 human may, and loved a decadent dinner and a few thrilling dialog earlier than heading out to the observe to catch qualifying.
Rocking as much as the race observe was so particular. Once more, Vegas is all the time a spectacle, however figuring out that examples of the top of automotive engineering could be blasting by the same old sights was intoxicating. Or perhaps that was the champagne. Both manner, I used to be buzzing to look at some racing. After exploring the paddock a bit we headed as much as the Paddock Membership for a chicken’s eye view of the beginning/end line, the place we caught the tail finish of qualifying. Witnessing the velocity with which these machines scream across the circuit was straight up exhilarating, to not point out the opposite sounds and smells of a race observe. The unsuspecting younger fellow I had interrupted at dinner had certified in pole place, and the Mercedes part on the Paddock Membership erupted with applause. It was time for a quiet drink after which off to mattress to organize for race day.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is one in all a handful of F1 races that happen at night time, which permits the town to masks its cigarette butt–lined streets in a shroud of darkness that additionally serves to spotlight the strip’s world well-known mild shows. I used to be grateful that we obtained to sleep in on race day since I had been operating myself ragged for days main as much as my journey. We discovered at brunch that we have been going to get an opportunity to experience alongside for a sizzling lap of the race circuit with a professional driver. I really like any observe time I can get, so by the point we departed the lodge round 4 p.m., I used to be an keen fella to say the least.
I believed qualifying day was thrilling, however as quickly as we approached the circuit on race day I knew that this was a special animal. All prep work was full and the whole 3.8-mile circuit was bolstered by thick crowds and engaging actions, however I used to be there for a freakin’ sizzling lap, so we headed proper right down to the observe the place we snagged helmets and awaited our pre-hot lap briefing. I stood subsequent to the Mercedes pit with my mouth agape, slowly rotating to go searching and never caring that I appeared like a day-old slice of pizza being microwaved instantly on the turntable. The stands have been largely empty and the observe was surprisingly quiet, however I knew that may all change in just some hours. We have been briefed and I adopted the herd of VIPs that headed out to the beginning grid to satisfy our respective vehicles, brushing shoulders with the likes of Mr. Beast and varied other people I vaguely acknowledge from the interwebs. Since we have been hosted by Mercedes, we stood subsequent to a shiny crimson AMG GT63 S, this time the actual coupe with simply two doorways. I propped myself up in opposition to a barrier and proceeded to re-initiate jaw-dropped, day-old pizza in a microwave mode till my flip lastly got here.
Most groups had their very own street vehicles to tackle sizzling laps — Mercedes with the AMG GTs, McLaren had Arturas, Aston introduced Vantages and DBXs, and there have been some Ford Mustangs on the market too. I strapped on my helmet, hopped into the AMG GT, and tightened my seatbelt. We shot away from the grid and there was no introductory interval, it was simply flat out as quickly as we left the grid. My driver was laughing the whole time, and so was I as we ripped via the surprisingly tight turns of the course. On the again straight we blew previous an Artura, reaching 176 mph as issues obtained a bit squirrely earlier than we stomped on the brakes and prepped for the subsequent flip. I used to be attempting to take every thing in, however all I may concentrate on was the speedometer and the quickly lowering distance between our automobile and the concrete obstacles whizzing previous just some inches away. As we rounded the final nook and pulled again into the pits, I unbuckled my seatbelt and miraculously my wobbly knees didn’t buckle beneath me as I rose out of the automobile in a match of nervous and ecstatic laughter. That was nuts.
We then wandered the pits the place I once more brushed shoulders with Hollywood elites and watched every driver strut out to immense applause. We rushed upstairs to the Paddock Membership and watched from our beautiful heated perch the place we have been served cocktails and lovely lobster dinners as issues on the bottom began getting critical.
The vitality because the groups wheeled their respective race rigs out to the grid is absolutely troublesome to place into phrases with out sounding cliché. The stands that have been almost vacant earlier have been packed shoulder-to-shoulder, and the vitality was electrifying. The groups all swarmed the vehicles as they desperately labored to maintain the tires heat and sticky in preparation for the chilly desert tarmac. Extra well-known folks in eccentric spangly getups and their respective entourages cruised between groups and newscasters on the grid as we watched from above. The televisions on the beginning arch started a countdown, and the gang cleared the grid. Quickly it was simply the vehicles revving, the scent of their exhaust, and a surprisingly quiet crowd eagerly awaiting the beginning.
Unbeknownst to me, an F1 virgin, the drivers full a formation lap instantly previous to race begin, so at first I used to be stunned when the drivers left in a staggered formation, however realized what was occurring as quickly as they began swerving to maintain their tires heat. The drivers returned to the grid, doing the automotive equal of champing on the bit by doing one ultimate burnout earlier than aligning of their spots and revving their engines. The road of lights on the beginning arch steadily started illuminating crimson from left to proper, till they have been all glowing crimson. The lights shut off, and the vehicles rocketed away from the beginning. My first F1 race had begun, and the ultimate automobile to go away the road was the intense crimson medical automobile that occurred to be a Mercedes-AMG GT63 S 4-Door Coupe. My press automobile is faster than the official F1 medical automobile? I believed to myself. That’s dope.
The primary lap was underway, and I almost gave myself a whiplash-concussion combo by attempting to comply with every automobile as they rounded the ultimate flip to begin lap two. I positive discovered a lesson fast: Don’t attempt to comply with the vehicles together with your eyes, simply concentrate on a spot the vehicles will move by. Our boy George Russell had clinched pole place in qualifying, and he instantly opened up a staggering lead on the pack, upwards of 10 seconds. Evidently the Mercedes part was abuzz with pleasure and pleasure. In a formidable flip of occasions, the opposite Mercedes driver, some man named Lewis Hamilton, was quick sufficient to climb from his beginning place in tenth all the way in which as much as second behind his teammate in a brief period of time. Having skilled the recent lap of the observe simply hours earlier actually allowed me to really feel linked to the race, and made me higher perceive the pressure that these drivers bear over the 50 all-out laps of the circuit. (That was a joke, by the way in which. I do know who Lewis Hamilton is and sure, I used to be fangirling.)
The racing was good. Our drivers carried out exceptionally properly, setting quite a few quickest laps all through the course of the race. What actually boggled my thoughts was watching the pit stops from above. I may hardly course of how quickly and effectively the groups managed to swap out all 4 tires and get the drivers again out onto the observe.
We additionally obtained to go down and sit within the storage in the course of the race. An announcer defined every thing occurring in entrance of us, and we obtained to stroll via the storage because the race was taking place, which was concurrently enthralling and terrifying. As a large human who can usually tackle the proverbial function of a bull in a china store, I used to be anxious that I’d handle to muck one thing up that may trigger the crew to lose. I used to be enthralled by how effectively every thing ran within the storage. In fact, logic would dictate {that a} crew as well-funded because the Mercedes F1 crew is comprised of one of the best of one of the best, however watching all of it play out in particular person was nonetheless fairly spectacular. Mercifully I solely bumped my head on one factor, and it didn’t break the race in any respect. Take that, anxiousness!
We headed again as much as the Paddock Membership simply in time to catch our two Mercedes drivers ending within the prime two spots whereas ingesting some cocktails. (We drank the cocktails, not the drivers.) These aren’t my phrases, however a number of folks within the Mercedes paddock informed me I used to be an excellent luck appeal, and I’ll humbly settle for that title. The stunning of us who have been serving us promptly introduced round trays of champagne to rejoice and toast to a race properly… raced.
I felt a way of pleasure as I watched each Russell and Hamilton slide between the coach doorways of the Rolls-Royce Phantom that may whisk them off to the rostrum. Not that I really had any half to play within the race, however I felt like a proud member of the Mercedes-Petronas F1 crew after assembly everybody and rubbing shoulders with automobile elements within the pits. I felt significantly lucky to see Russell, whom I had met and briefly chatted with the day prior, full and win such an incredible race. The 50 laps of the Las Vegas Grand Prix have been over surprisingly fast, and I’m glad there weren’t any huge crashes or accidents. An enormous congratulations goes out to all of the groups, however particularly the Mercedes-AMG Petronas crew for such a formidable efficiency.
It was extremely particular for me to attend the Las Vegas Grand Prix within the first place, not to mention beneath the gracious hospitality of the three-pointed star, and at a race that it earned a one-two end in. What extra may you ask for? An AMG GT63 S E Efficiency to drive again residence? I had that too. As soon as extra for good measure: I’m the luckiest man on the planet.
