Formula 1 looking for new name for Las Vegas paddock building because of 2017 mass shooting
Paddock is a common term in racing but is also the last name of the man who killed 60 and wounded hundreds
The Las Vegas Grand Prix is looking to change the name of the paddock building being built for November’s race because of the 2017 mass shooting in the city.
A 300,000-square-foot building is under construction for the Nov. 18 race and will hold the garages for the 20 cars competing in the event. The building has been commonly referred to as “the paddock building” as the word paddock is a common term in racing and is used to refer to the area where team garages are housed.
However, the building may have a different name in the near future. A spokesperson for Formula 1 told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the Grand Prix is looking to rename the building because of the name of Stephen Paddock, the man who killed 60 people and wounded hundreds when he opened fire from his hotel room on people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Oct. 1, 2017.
[Formula 1 representative Stephanie Allen] said paddock is a word used globally to describe the building that houses drivers’ garages, but told Clark County Commissioners that officials were looking at changing the name out of sensitivity to the community.”
The 2017 shooting is the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. Paddock was found dead in his hotel room after opening fire on the crowd from his 32nd-floor hotel room and a definitive motive for the shooting is still unknown.
“We were unable to determine a motive for the shooter,” the FBI said in a March statement. “Speculating on a motive causes more harm to the hundreds of people who were victims that night.”
The November race on the Las Vegas Strip and surrounding streets is set to be the third F1 race in the city and the first in Las Vegas in over 40 years. F1 ran in 1981 and 1982 at Las Vegas. The race is also the third of three Grand Prix races in the United States in 2023. The Miami Grand Prix was run in May and the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin is scheduled for October.
