It feels like a permanent place. The top three finishers in the race will be interviewed during the Winner’s Stage of the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix.
However, it goes far beyond that.
Entering the Bellagio Fountain Club spectator area, you find a fully functional nightclub and hospitality layout. The restaurant scene on the second level is complete with elegant glasses, flatware, and napkins with monograms. Glass tables are surrounded by white and black chairs, and there are lots of plush blue couches. Next to windows overlooking the Strip, where Formula One cars will speed past at over 200 mph, are several six-tops.
The star chefs at MGM Resorts International are in charge. José Andrés, Christina Tosi, Alain Ducasse, and Rainer Becker join industry veterans Mario Carbone, David Chang, Michael Mina, Masaharu Morimoto, Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
There are now two 165-inch video walls, and the action is shown on sixty OLED TVs equipped with Dolby Vision. There are two F1 race simulators in the room, one on each side.
On both sides of the fortress surrounded by glass, bleachers are constructed. Its roof, known as the Rooftop Nightclub, has a DJ deck and views of the Las Vegas Grand Prix road course in front and the Bellagio Fountains in back. Deep into the night, DJ-driven parties are held at Tao Group Marquee Skydeck on the south side and Red Bull Lounge on the north side.
Three football fields are covered by the deck. There’s actually a game you could play on this artificial turf. The Winner’s Stage sits in the center, and performers from Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, and Jabbawockeez periodically perform there.
And what else? The club is run by 500 Bellagio staff members and volunteers. When you consider that a three-day race ticket includes a meet-and-greet with F1 ambassadors, unlimited food and drink, and access to all these fan-fun zones, you can see why fans paid more than $11,000 for it.
All 3,600 tickets have been fully sold out by the club. Revenue and conversation have already been fueled by the structure.
Vice president of Citywide Events Strategy Andrew Lanzino stated in a statement last month, “We’re curating an experience at the Bellagio Fountain Club that offers guests the absolute best of F1.” “We feel deeply privileged to be the host of the winner’s stage of the Las Vegas Grand Prix for what we hope will be one of the weekend’s most memorable events.”
You simply shake your head at the enormity of it all, keeping in mind that it took four months to construct this VIP racing destination and that adult trees in front of the fountains had to be taken down. Officials from MGM Resorts International assure us that they will be replaced. It’s not something you can do all year long. However, it will occupy the front of Bellagio’s well-known fountains for a few months.
Building got underway in August. To be finished in time for New Year’s Eve, the venue must be dismantled. Every time the Las Vegas Grand Prix is held, this is how it happens: four months of intense construction on this destination within a destination. It will be worthwhile, according to officials. We’ll investigate. They run the race for that reason.
