Brad Pitt, Rod Stewart and Gordon Ramsay led a star-studded line-up for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday.
A host of celebrities turned out to watch the inaugural event – as drivers raced against a backdrop of several Vegas landmarks including the Bellagio fountains, Mandalay Bay, Caesars Palace and the new ball-shaped MSG Sphere.
Hollywood star Brad, 59, led the arrivals by cutting a casual figure in a gray jumper while standing in pit lane at the Heinekin Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix ahead of Saturday night’s big race.
braid is set to star in a Formula One based film, and filmed footage on location during the first half of the F1 season, including shots of him driving a Formula Two car with an additional Formula One aero-package at the Silverstone Circuit in July.
He visited the Grand Prix amid a busy schedule shooting the untitled film with director Joseph Kosinski, in which he plays a seasoned Formula One ace who comes out of retirement to train an up-and-coming driver.
Brad was seen stopping by to watch Friday’s practice, causing chaos when a drain cover came loose at the track.
Elsewhere, singer Rod, 78, and celebrity chef Gordon, 57, were also seen having fun in the Red Bull Racing garage.
Rod cut a soft figure in a vibrant yellow velvet suit, which he styled with a patterned waistcoat and a white shirt.
Gordon opted for a more casual image as she wore a white T-shirt and a marl cardigan as she spoke to Rod, who posed playfully for the camera.
Rod was joined by his wife Penny Lancaster as they visited the Grand Prix ahead of the star’s show in Las Vegas.
The rocker is currently performing his The Hits residency at Caesars Palace, with Formula One also taking place in Sin City on Sunday 19 November.
Meanwhile, Gordon – who recently welcomed his sixth child, a boy named Jesse James, with his wife Tana, 49 – was also accompanied by his daughter Holly, 23.
Geri Horner also supported her husband Christian Horner – who is a principal at Red Bull Racing – as she joined him at the star-studded Grand Prix.
The Grand Prix has been packed with entertainment as Kylie Minogue took to the stage as a headliner during the opening ceremony on Thursday.
Casinos and clubs have packages for fans looking for something to do late each night while waiting for the cars to arrive at the track, which includes Kylie’s show.
Other acts at the gala included Tiësto, John Legend, Journey, Keith Urban, Jared Leto, Steve Aoki, J Balvin and Andra Day.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix events are scheduled for November 16 to 18, with races taking place on Saturday nights.
The last time the city hosted an F1 race was in 1982, when it was home to the Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
However, Friday turned into a farce when practice was abandoned after just eight minutes when a drain cover came loose on the track, causing significant damage to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
And angry fans – some of whom paid $200 to attend – were escorted out before the second session was scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. local time, two and a half hours behind schedule.
But the drivers were back on track on Saturday night – where Ferrari favorite Charles Leclerc claimed the lead ahead of his injured teammate Sainz.
The Spanish driver also honored a commitment to appear at a fan event in the city and looked to be enjoying himself with his fellow Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
Event chiefs will pray that Thursday’s track failure becomes a distant memory at the end of the weekend, which saw 105,000 F1 fans – some of whom pay up to $185,000 (£150,000) – stormed out of the Sin City circuit.
Sainz was penalized with a 10-place grid penalty for necessary repairs to his car after driving over a drain cover – which would drop his starting position to 12th, despite the accident being no fault of his.
Speaking about it earlier on Friday, he looked a lot less happy than at his fan event appearance.
He said: ‘Unfortunately as soon as the session ended the team told me I was taking a 10-place grid penalty for something that was no fault of mine or the team and obviously it affected my mentality and my opinion on the weekend. And it has completely changed what the weekend is like. I am going to leave from now on.
‘You won’t see me very happy this weekend. What happened today for me is a clear example of how this game can be improved in many ways.
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