Fans Sue F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Liberty Media over Practice Session Debacle

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A Las Vegas-based law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix on behalf of 35,000 people who purchased tickets to what became an aborted Thursday night practice session.

Dimopoulos Law Firm, along with co-counsel JK Legal & Consulting filed the lawsuit on Friday night charging defendants Liberty Media Corporation DBA Formula One Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix and TAB Contractors, Inc. with breach of contract, negligence, and deceptive trade practices.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE COMPLAINT AS FILED

The suit charges that the track was not in "race-ready condition" at the start of the abbreviated practice session and that fans should have been offered ticket refunds after the practice session was canceled.

Fans who purchased tickets to the first practice session saw the session canceled just nine minutes into the session after a manhole cover became dislodged and damaged the race cars of Charles Leclerc and Lance Stoll. In total, fans saw just those nine minutes of on-track action over the course of four hours before the the start of the second session at 2:30 a.m. local time on Friday.

The grandstands, however, were cleared by police and track security before that delayed second session began. And that drew the ire of fans who paid hundreds of dollars for tickets and were willing to wait out the delays.

Enter the lawyers.

No refunds for tickets were given, though fans were offered a $200 voucher for F1 merchandise—enough to nearly cover the cost of a team shirt and a hat—on sale at the venue.

“We will vindicate the rights of the fans that traveled great distances and paid small fortunes to attend, but were deprived of the experience,” said Dimopoulos Law Firm owner and lead attorney, Steve Dimopoulos.