MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix – one of three annual F1 races in the United States – has received plenty of feedback from locals, the F1 community, ticket holders, and East Coast fans who aren’t able to stay awake for the whole nighttime race in November.
So, the Las Vegas GP is moving up its start time two hours earlier – from 10 p.m. PT to 8 p.m. PT – for its third edition Nov. 20-22, 2025.
Ideally, the race will end around its original start time – allowing F1 drivers, teams and fans to experience more of the city after racing on the Las Vegas Strip. East Coast fans won’t have to stay awake past 1 a.m. ET to tune in, while the time change still appeals to the overseas F1 markets in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
“I think, as we’ve just learned, it’s just slightly too late. So, we took on the feedback on what everybody was asking for, and for us to be stubborn about it isn’t the right decision,” Las Vegas GP president and CEO Emly Prazer told USA TODAY Sports ahead of the 2025 Miami Grand Prix.
“Vegas has so much going for it that there’s just so much to do. It just made a lot more sense to shift it up, and program it slightly differently. But ultimately, you’re still going to have the night race experience – it’s still going to be incredibly full on.”
The Las Vegas GP is still establishing itself on the F1 calendar after its first two editions, when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won in 2023 and Mercedes’ George Russell won 2024.
The Vegas race will offer its cheapest tickets in its third year, hoping fans will buy earlier to avoid rising prices before the race. It’s a different approach after Las Vegas needed to lower ticket prices in the leadup to their first two races.
“We’re quite open about the fact that we had a very short window to make the first race happen, trying really hard to understand what all of that meant. We didn’t have much insight into operating expenses, so there was a little bit of a challenge. We’re now super confident that we know how to put this race on cost effectively, and so we wanted to pass through that benefit to the fan,” Prazer said of the lower ticket prices.
Las Vegas officials also announced May 2 the opening of Grand Prix Plaza – touted as North America’s largest F1 attraction with more than 100,000 square feet of activities.
The venue features cars and artifacts from F1’s 75-year history, while offering a go-karting experience on a track, F1 simulations, shopping and restaurants.
The year-round venue uses the Paddock Club area utilized by the Vegas Grand Prix race.
“The one thing that we’re super proud of is that the race is actually phenomenal, it’s a super-fast track, and everybody loves the racing. We’re making it the ultimate F1 experience,” Prazer said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Las Vegas F1 race will have new start time. Here’s why.
