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Rooftop clubs and celebrity chefs: Las Vegas Grand Prix goes over the top

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Bellagio Fountain Club
Bellagio / Courtesy

He’s the most famous new Las Vegas resident and he’s got big plans for race weekend. Mark Wahlberg will have some amazing views of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix from Drai’s Beachclub and Nightclub on the rooftop of the center-Strip Cromwell resort, and for $400, you can too. That was the starting price, at press time, for a single-day pass to the Vista Las Vegas viewing event at Drai’s, in association with the McLaren F1 Racing Team, and it sure doesn’t include a few shots of Wahlberg’s Flecha Azul tequila.

Luxury, glamour, flowing Champagne and celebrity-studded parties—these descriptors are equally suited when you’re talking about Formula 1 races or Las Vegas. Now that the two have joined forces, there are too many activations to keep track of, almost all of which come with an oversized price tag.

Sports Illustrated and Authentic Brands Group are presenting the Club SI hospitality suite and experience all weekend long on the Strip, with programming including a party hosted by SI swimsuit models Brooks Nader and Nicole Williams English, and a race night celebration where guests can mingle with global sports superstars David Beckham and Shaquille O’Neal. An all-inclusive ticket is only $7,000.

Allegiant Stadium will host the Culinary Kickoff on November 16, an ultra-fancy food fest with more than a dozen interactive stations manned by chefs including Todd English and Rick Moonen and appearances by NFL stars Warren Moon, Emmitt Smith and Charles Woodson. Tickets start at around $1,200. Megachef Gordon Ramsay will be hosting and cooking a Trackside Dinner at Hell’s Kitchen Caesars Palace on November 17, preparing a four-course menu and popping by to tell visitors (who have paid $500 per person) how much he loves F1. Fellow Caesars Entertainment celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis will host her own Morning After Trackside Brunch at her namesake restaurant at the Cromwell on November 19; that one’s only $250 a head.

Wynn is teaming up with film production company Neon to host an exclusive screening of Michael Mann’s upcoming film Ferrari on November 17, but there’s no lofty ticket price for this one—it’s invitation only. The film stars Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley and it releases on Christmas Day, but lucky attendees “can expect an intimate and epic viewing experience of one of the most anticipated films of the year at Encore Theater,” Wynn president Steve Weitman said in a statement.

Certainly one of the most talked-about F1 spectator experiences is the Bellagio Fountain Club, a temporary structure on the resort’s iconic lake fronting the Strip and the raceway, where guests can watch the race via exclusive live feed powered by Dolby Vision. The venue is also home to the Winner’s Stage, where drivers will check in after the race for interviews and appearances, and the Fountain Club will have its own lineup of culinary superstars and entertainers from the MGM Resorts portfolio. CNN reported that Bellagio sold out three-day luxury packages for $12,000 per person for the Fountain Club.

“We think it’s going to be an unbeatable experience,” says Chelsea Sullivan, head of partnership development for MGM Resorts. “There’s nothing more iconic on the Strip than the Bellagio fountains. Even if people don’t know Vegas, they still picture that moment when the fountains go off, so to include that for race ticket holders to enjoy should be very special.”

Bellagio is also hosting a pop-up Ferrari boutique and a Shoey Bar where guests can purchase limited-edition, MGM-branded driving shoes and fill them with a special drink for a traditional toast, just like race winners do on the podium. And there are plenty of other fancy dinners with guest chefs, displays like the Alfa Romeo experience at Aria’s lobby, parties and receptions at other MGM properties.

“It’s something we do really well, having so many locations on the Strip, of thinking, how do we make sure our properties feel activated and our guests can move from one to another and have the chance to experience race week across the portfolio,” Sullivan says. “I think all the different resort properties are making sure the city as a whole is embracing this event and elevating it. It’s so unique for Las Vegas and the first of its kind, so we made sure we’re leaning into it.”

Other spectator experiences are taking place at the new Chéri Rooftop nightclub at Paris Las Vegas; the East Harmon Zone by Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, which was scheduled to host the opening ceremony November 15 featuring Andra Day, J Balvin, Journey, Keith Urban, Steve Aoki and Thirty Seconds to Mars; the Paddock Club and the Wynn Grid Club at the Pit Building above the race team garages, at Koval and Harmon; the South Koval Zone by Caesars Rewards; the T-Mobile Zone at Sphere; and other grandstands set up throughout the circuit.

For current Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix spectator ticket information, visit f1lasvegasgp.com/inventory.

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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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