Lewis Hamilton has insisted that the Las Vegas Grand Prix will “never” rival Silverstone, although he’s hopeful that the locals will “grow to love” Formula 1.
There has been significant complaints ahead of this weekend’s first race in Las Vegas since 1982, with the local residents having been furious at how their lives have been severely disrupted for nine months.
Most of the complaints have been targeted at F1 due to the sport promoting the event themselves, something they’ve never done before.
Construction work started nine months ago to ensure that this weekend’s event is as big as possible, resulting in extraordinary traffic for almost a year.
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Four-mile journeys have reportedly taken several hours, resulting in the locals wanting the pinnacle of motorsport to pack their bags and leave.
It will certainly be an event like no other and Hamilton is hopeful that the locals will learn to embrace and love F1; however, he can’t see the Las Vegas GP becoming as big as the British Grand Prix.
“It is a big show for sure,” Hamilton told the media, as reported by Total-Motorsport.com.
“And it’s never going to be like Silverstone, but maybe over time the people in this community, the community here will grow to love the sport just as we’ve had the privilege of growing up and experiencing.
“Maybe the track will be good, maybe it’ll be bad. It was so-so on the sim, it’s definitely not Silverstone but I think don’t knock it until you try it.”
This weekend will mark the third race in the United States this season, following on from the Miami Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix.
Some believe it’s wrong that the US gets three races, whilst the likes of Germany and India don’t even have one.
Hamilton is in favour of F1 racing in the US multiple times, as he recognises that “one wasn’t enough” to ensure that the sport was making the most of the market.
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“The sport continues to grow, it is a business ultimately and I think you’ll still see good racing here,” Hamilton added.
“It’s just such a big country. I think to really tap into the market here and really captivate the audience here, we needed to have at least two races.
“One wasn’t enough, and this is one of the most iconic cities there is and unique cities that they have here, amongst the other amazing cities they have in America, you know all the lights the show.”