Formula 1 considering strange change for Las Vegas

Formula 1 race organizers of the Las Vegas Grand Prix are reportedly considering ditching the term “paddock” for the race weekend.

As the hype and attention — both good and bad — continue to increase as mid-November’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix race weekend inches closer, Formula 1 race organizers are reportedly considering an eyebrow-raising change.

Because the name of the October 2017 mass shooter in Las Vegas was named Stephen Paddock, there is currently a consideration to ditch the term “paddock” for the race weekend.

The term is a widely used and acceptable term used in motorsports for where race teams park their transporters, but Formula 1 race organizers may be looking to distance themselves from the word in Sin City.

On the surface, it seems like a harmless change aimed at avoiding bringing back the memories of the shooting.

But we so often hear that it would be better not to release the names of mass shooters, as the media naming the gunmen only serves to glorify their crimes. So Formula 1 potentially making a spectacle over not using the term in question undoubtedly ends up serving the opposite purpose and only further rehashing such memories.

And would there seriously be an outrage if Formula 1 were to go about their usual business?

Plus, the fact that a sport that races in countries where basic human rights are practically nonexistent — and largely ignores it — would even consider making such a change is peak virtue signaling. It comes across as nothing more than a way to pat themselves on the back.

And look — Lewis Hamilton can wear all the rainbow helmets he wants to in those countries. But no perception of “awareness” changes the fact that he goes in knowing he’s protected, while the individuals he’s supposedly supporting are far from it. And his helmet colors are not changing that.

Meanwhile, Formula 1 race organizers are concerned because the name of a mass shooter six years ago happens to also be a standard racing term?

Surely at some point there has been a perpetrator whose name was the same as that of a Formula 1 driver, yet nobody ever avoided saying the driver’s name.

While nobody wants to bring back the memories of October 2017, it just seems as though Formula 1 would be better off going about their business in making this event a success, rather than potentially stirring up exactly what they’re supposedly trying to avoid.