Las Vegas comes up trumps for Formula One despite rough road

Formula One’s gamble came up trumps with one of the best shows of the season as – chief critic of the £500million race – claimed victory on Saturday night.

Here, the PA news agency dissects the key questions surrounding F1’s maiden extravaganza in Sin City.

Did the Las Vegas Grand Prix live up to the hype?

bosses were in crisis management mode in the early hours of Friday morning. First practice had been abandoned after eight minutes, and the delayed second running – which finished at 4am – was played out in front of empty grandstands.

It was a catastrophic look for the event which F1 had billed for months as the greatest show on Earth.

By the close of Saturday’s thrill-a-minute 50-lap race – which saw the lead change hand on five occasions – F1 chiefs were celebrating a triumph.

Sin City had delivered on the hype, providing a 48-hour turnaround to savour for the sport’s relieved owners’ Liberty Media.