By Rory Carroll
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) -FBI Director Kash Patel and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were in attendance at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday, arriving on the red carpet with Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali before touring the paddock and McLaren’s garage.
“This is a fantastic event to celebrate not just these drivers and teams but also the great competition F1 is,” Noem told Reuters.
“We’re just glad everyone could come and do it securely.”
Patel said he was “absolutely” an F1 fan and that he supported McLaren.
Asked whether he would switch allegiances when the American team Cadillac joins the grid next year, Patel hedged.
“I’ll have to see how they do,” he said.
Security at major events in Las Vegas has been heightened since a gunman killed 58 people and wounded more than 500 more at a country music festival in 2017 in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
The third edition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is held along the Las Vegas Strip, has drawn a raft of celebrities including Beyonce and Jay-Z, who met with Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton before the race, and actress Cynthia Erivo of Wicked fame.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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