Formula 1 settles Las Vegas Grand Prix ticket lawsuit for $3 million

Liberty Media has agreed to a $3 million settlement in a ticket lawsuit tied to the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, a deal that moves one of Formula 1’s most visible U.S. controversies toward closure. The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada as Jack Diep, et al. v. Liberty Media Corporation, et al., No. 2:23-cv-02124-GMN-NJK, centers on fans who bought or held tickets to the race and tried to attend the FP2 free practice session scheduled for Nov. 16, 2023.

The settlement notice says the class is limited to people or entities that purchased or possessed a ticket to the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix and attempted to attend that practice session. The agreement is meant to provide cash payments or partial refunds to eligible ticket-holders, not broad refunds for every race attendee. Hagens Berman said the court granted preliminary approval of a settlement totaling over $3 million on March 9, 2026, and set a final fairness hearing for Nov. 4, 2026.

The dispute grew out of the opening day of Formula 1’s inaugural Las Vegas street race. A loose manhole cover damaged Carlos Sainz Jr.’s Ferrari and stopped the first practice session on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. Other coverage of the race said fans were removed from the grandstands minutes before FP2 because the session was delayed, leaving some ticket buyers saying they did not get the experience they paid for at one of the sport’s most expensive new events.

The settlement lands at a sensitive moment for Formula 1’s U.S. push. Liberty Media owns Formula 1 and also promotes the Las Vegas Grand Prix, making the case more than a routine consumer dispute: it is a test of how a premium sports property handles fallout when the luxury spectacle it sells breaks down on the day. The Las Vegas race was marketed as a high-end showcase meant to cement Formula 1’s popularity in America, with the Strip as its backdrop and elite pricing to match.

The legal resolution does not erase the damage to the debut weekend’s image. Instead, it shows how quickly consumer frustration can turn into litigation when a premium event fails to deliver the access and experience fans were promised. With the fairness hearing still ahead, the settlement now stands as a concrete measure of the cost of that breakdown.