This Formula 1 weekend in Las Vegas is definitely not like any other. Between the drivers who parade at 350 km/h on the Strip between the most beautiful casinos in the world, the schedules of the sessions very late in the evening in the cold of the night, or even Carlos Sainz who destroys his car on an evacuation drain … But it’s not just that. Specific to the weekend in F1, there is no official “paddock”. Or at least, it shouldn’t be called that.
If the paddock does exist and is brand new, just above the grid boxes, with a superb view of the starting line, we should rather talk this week about the “hospitality area” (hospitality area in French in the text). For what ? Quite simply because the term “paddock” brings back bad memories in Las Vegas.
60 dead and more than 500 injured
On October 1, 2017, a man named Stephen Craig… Paddock opened fire on the crowd on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino during a music festival. For almost ten minutes, the shooter aimed at the crowd. A real carnage which left 60 dead and more than 500 injured. One of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. A few minutes after the incident, Stephen Craig Paddock was found dead in his bedroom with more than 20 different weapons. Although the attack was supposedly claimed by the Islamic State, the police have always denied the link between the shooter and the organization.
We understand better why neither F1, nor the organizers, nor the local media, are referring to the “paddock” this weekend. But rest assured, we already talk enough about the circuit, considered too simplistic and in poor condition by the majority of drivers.
