Born with an aim to expand the worldwide reach of the motorsport championship, the ambition for the Las Vegas Grand Prix evolved when Liberty Media bought Formula 1 in 2017.

Renee Wilm dreamed of the night race around the famous Strip when she visited the Clark County Commissioner's office in Vegas.

"When we first came to town a few years ago and sat before everyone and said, 'We want to close the Las Vegas Strip and we want to encapsulate 60,000 rooms, but it's all going to be fine,' they all sort of looked at us like, 'What is this woman smoking?" During an August interview with USA TODAY Sports, Las Vegas Grand Prix chief executive officer Wilm informed us.

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But we sold them on the dream and simply what we could offer for this community.

Wilm remarked, "What precisely the event brings is an estimated $1.2 billion economic impact, and an international audience."

Chief commercial officer of the Las Vegas Grand Prix Emily Prazer moved from London to take on the fledgling enterprise. Unlike a Super Bowl or major league sports team, she noted, the race will draw attention to the whole city and not only one location.

"Having a street race is not really related to Allegiant Stadium or the T-Mobile Arena. With cameras and helicopters and everything else, Prazer added, it's the entire city. "Thus it truly does put them on that level of global stage."

Problems with the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix early on

Early Friday morning at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix practice session, what the world witnessed was the challenges of organizing such an event. Driving over an unsecured drain cover wrecked Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz's vehicle. Formula 1 postponed the second practice session to 2:30 a.m. local time so officials can fix the circuit and guarantee its safety.

Wilm and Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali issued a statement Friday night to handle the matter.

"Our top priority at Formula 1 is the safety and security of our drivers, employees, and fans," the statement stated. "Response for the supervision of a Formula 1 event falls with Formula 1 as the commercial rights holder of the sport, the FIA as the regulating body, and the local promoter, in this case the Las Vegas Grand Prix."

The executives said that the remaining spectators advised to depart an hour before the start of the second practice session had justification. According to the statement, the decision was taken to control public safety authorities' capacity, shuttle drivers', hospitality staff's capability.

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"We know this was disappointing," the remarks went on. "Based on this explanation, which balances many interests including the safety and security of all participants and the fan experience over the whole race weekend, we hope our fans will understand."

Against Las Vegas Grand Prix, Austin and Monaco compared

Formula 1 runs 23 events on five continents this season, each with own character. United States had three races for the first time. The Netflix docuseries "Drive to Survive" and social media, where viewers interact with Lando Norris over video games or Lewis Hamilton over fashion, have stoked growing national interest in the country. Apart from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix held in Austin has been running since 2012 and the Miami Grand Prix launched last year.

Working with F1 on race marketing since 2017, Prazer said she is aware of the subtleties involved in every event. Given the distance between Miami and Las Vegas is like that of London and the Middle East, she said the success at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin helped inspire the notion the United States could maintain many races.

"Austin's been on the calendar for over 15 years, so they really established the example for us," she said, pointing out the objective is to identify complementing racing markets in the U.S. that are far enough apart from one other to not affect each other's value proposition."

Grand Prix of Las Vegas driven by a squad of women

Rare in the sports world, the Las Vegas Grand Prix boasts numerous women in senior positions. A March Sport Integrity Global Alliance research revealed that 26.9% of the leadership roles in worldwide sports federations were occupied by women.

Apart from Wilm and Prazer, Silvia Bellot is the senior director of racing activities for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Her father loved races, therefore she joined the Las Vegas team following 12 years with the FIA, the Formula 1 regulating organization.

Having a legal background, Wilm is aware of having to negotiate a job dominated by men. She remembered being the only woman in the room upon Liberty Media acquiring the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball in 2007. She claimed that this was a time that let her realize the need of speaking up and appreciating differences.