The Las Vegas Grand Prix, often called the marquee race of the Formula One season, is run largely by women. Despite F1’s reputation as a male-dominated sport, the event’s leadership team includes a female CEO, a female chief commercial officer, and several women in key operational roles.
Lauren Flint, senior vice president of event operations, oversees the logistics of race weekend, including event, race, experiential, and construction operations. A UNLV graduate, Flint previously served as vice president and festival director for Life is Beautiful.
“One of the reasons I joined LVGP was because it had so much great, strong female leadership,” Flint told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “That was really inspiring and being able to come over where there’s a female CEO, female chief commercial officer, and then also various different operational female leads, too.”
Flint is part of a group that includes Emily Prazer (president & CEO of Las Vegas Grand Prix Inc. and chief commercial officer of F1), Lori Nelson-Kraft (senior vice president of community affairs), Silvia Bellot (vice president of sporting and race operations), Samantha Rayburn (vice president of experiential operations), Alli England (vice president of premium ticket sales and services), Ashley Elmore (vice president of human resources), and Kristina Crunk (chief of staff).
The women-led structure reflects a broader trend in Las Vegas, where many sports teams have female executives. Flint noted the value of being able to call peers in other organizations for advice. “It’s a really great opportunity with how many different organizations that we now have in Las Vegas,” she said.
Flint also highlighted initiatives like the Girl Scouts selling cookies at the race and meeting F1 Academy drivers, which bring female representation into the sport. F1 Academy, the all-female racing series, aligns with the team’s mission. “To be able to bring in now F1 Academy and really show that again, anything you can do, we can do too, was really, really cool,” Flint said.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix continues to evolve, with Flint emphasizing a commitment to improvement. “Vegas is such a unique destination and market that we can never just be mediocre within it,” she said. “We’ve spent the last few months really sitting down, recapping, going through what the overall event experience was and then sitting down together as a team and challenging that.”
