Mick Akers: F1 Journalist previews the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula 1 is touching down in Vegas amid the bright lights of Sin City. 

Lando Norris is currently in the lead, holding a 24-point buffer over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. 

And Liam Lawson is preparing to roll the Formula 1 dice, unlikely to learn of his future before the season ends.   

F1 Journalist Mick Akers told Mike Hosking the event is tracking towards selling out, with an announcement likely to come ahead of the race kicking off this weekend.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Vegas, baby, if one in town for the third time.
It rained like nothing else of this week. So what's
the forecast and what are the prospects for race day.
Mike Mickayke is an F one journalist at the Las
Vegas Review Journal MC morning, here are you? I'm well, indeed,
I was watching some of that weather earlier on this week.
Is that typical?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Not really for this time of year that usually we
get that kind of late steady rain throughout the day,
like in the wintertime, so a little bit earlier than usual,
but I guess there was a storm that came in
through California, so a little bit heavier in the rain
that we expect in the in the fall. But you know,
things aren't looking so bad in the next few.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Days, Okay, so the forecasts find a dry track or
we can't say that yet, you.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Could pretty much say that looking like maybe some overnight
rain tonight and tomorrow, but early early morning rain, so
obviously you know, no issues for tomorrow's final practice and
then qualifying, and then everything's looking pretty clear. On Saturday.
I think maybe there's like a fifteen percent chance of rain,
but I don't think that's around racetay.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
What's your assessment as we entered the third year. First
year massive of course, because all the noise last year
not quant as big. What's year three look.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Like, Yeah, so heading into it, a lot less negative noise,
I'd say, aroun one with the Vegas basically, you know,
the first year, we had all that roadwork, about nine
months worth of getting everything ready for the FIA approval
for the race itself, and the paving. Last year a
little a little bit less, you know, they didn't have
as much roadwork to do. We still have about four months,
you know worth of lead up to the race. So

(01:23):
obviously they're setting up the track and make sure they're
all the paving's all well and all that F one's
gotten to the community, and they kind of trying to
mend the ties here with some of the people that
they might have ticked off the first year. So they
went in and gave a lot of tickets away to
you know, teachers and other people in the community that
are doing nice things now. So year three looking a lot,
you know, a lot less noise as far as negativity

(01:45):
going with F one. In the locals, they cut the
ticket prices thirty percent less at the start of the
ticket sales earlier this year. That was kind of aimed
at getting the locals who may have skipped it in
the first two years because of the price. They said
that worked out pretty well, so it's tracking for us.
I'm assuming before the race kicks off on Saturday that
they'll announce thisell out. So you know, everything's looking pretty

(02:05):
good going into year three here.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
Fantastic how much buzz around Cadillac given the American connection
and their entry next to you.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, you hear a little bit of people talking about
it obviously, you know, the lot of you know, Vegas
locals are still going to getting their feet wet with
the F one stuff, especially maybe the people that shied
away the first two years because of the negativity around it.
But yeah, some people are kind of getting excited about
that and with the American tie in, so you know,
people also are pretty familiar with Sergeria, so with some

(02:34):
of the Hispanic population we have out here, so a
lot of buzz around that as well.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Fantastic, Good on you make you enjoy the weekend, Appreciate
it very much, mission because it works out well for us.
Of course, because this afternoon is P one and P
two Tomorrow Saturday is of course qualifying, and then on Sunday,
so it'll be late Sunday out time because of their
time zone because they're a little bit ahead of us
the previous day. So it's just ideal conditions. Longest, am

(02:58):
I right saying it's the longest. It's certainly as far
as speed is concerned. They knock up three fifty clicks
on the back straight there. It's not my favorite track,
no street tracks a favorite track of mind, But nevertheless,
I can't see why Racing Bulls wouldn't be doing what
Racing Bulls does. Officially. I saw another video yesterday just

(03:19):
a boy you witness with my if one knowledge or
another video yesterday that confirmed in their minds that Liam
Lawson is safe and that it's Yuki Sonoda who's moving on.
So this limb Black guy sold on. Apparently they think
HATG is the next thing, so he's up to Red Bull.
Limblay gets promoted, Liam stays, and Yuki is on his way.

(03:40):
So that seems to be a mounting amount of at
least commentary on that at the moment. For more from
the Mike Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks it'd
be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on
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