Brad Pitt, Rod Stewart and Gordon Ramsay lead the A-stars who turn out in force for the highly anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix

Brad Pitt, Rod Stewart and Gordon Ramsay led the stars who headed en masse to the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday.

Celebrities have flocked to the opening event, as drivers race against the backdrop of several Vegas landmarks, including the Bellagio Fountains, Mandalay Bay, Caesars Palace and the new spherical MSG Sphere.

Hollywood star Brad, 59, led the finish line as he cut a casual figure in a gray jersey as he stood in the pit lane at the Heinekin Silver Grand Prix of Las Vegas ahead of Saturday night’s big race.

Brad is set to star in a Formula 1-based film, and filmed footage on location during the first half of the F1 season, including shots of him driving a Formula 2 car with an added Formula 1 aero package at the Silverstone Circuit in July.

He visited the Grand Prix amid his busy schedule shooting with director Joseph Kosinski for the untitled film, in which he plays a Formula 1 veteran who comes out of retirement to train an up-and-coming driver.

Brad was seen stopping to have a chat while watching Friday’s practice, which descended into chaos when a drain cover came loose on the track.

Elsewhere, singer Rod, 78, and celebrity chef Gordon, 57, were also seen in the Red Bull Racing garage.

Rod looked suave in a vibrant yellow velvet suit, which he teamed with a patterned waistcoat and white shirt.

Opting for a more casual figure, Gordon wore a white T-shirt and marl cardigan as he chatted to Rod, who posed playfully for the cameras.

Rod was also joined by his wife Penny Lancaster as they visited the Grand Prix ahead of the star’s performance in Las Vegas.

The rocker is currently performing his The Hits residency at Caesars Palace, with Formula 1 also taking place in Sin City on Sunday, November 19.

Meanwhile, Gordon – who recently welcomed his sixth child, a boy called Jesse James, with wife Tana, 49 – was joined by his daughter Holly, 23.

Geri Horner also supported her husband Christian Horner – the director of Red Bull Racing – as she accompanied him to the star-studded Grand Prix.

The Grand Prix was packed with entertainment as Kylie Minogue took to the stage as the main act during the opening ceremony on Thursday.

The casinos and clubs have packages for fans looking for something to do while they wait for the cars to hit the track each night, including Kylie’s show.

Other acts at the glitzy ceremony included Tiësto, John Legend, Journey, Keith Urban, Jared Leto, Steve Aoki, J Balvin and Andra Day.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix events are scheduled for November 16-18, with the race itself taking place on Saturday evening.

The last time the city hosted an F1 race was in 1982, when it was home to the Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

However, Friday descended into farce when practice was halted after just eight minutes when a drain cover came loose on the track, causing significant damage to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.

And angry fans – some of whom paid $200 to attend – were kicked out before the second session could start at 2.30am local time, two and a half hours later than scheduled.

But the drivers returned to the circuit on Saturday evening, with Ferrari favorite Charles Leclerc claiming pole ahead of his stricken teammate Sainz.

The Spanish driver even kept his promise to appear at a fan event in the city and seemed to be having a great time with fellow Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

Event chiefs will pray that Thursday’s on-track fiasco becomes a distant memory by the end of a weekend that saw 105,000 F1 fans – including some paying up to $185,000 (£150,000) – take to the Sin City circuit.

Sainz was assessed a 10-place grid penalty for repairs required to his car after driving over the drain cover. This drops his starting position to 12th, even though the accident was not his fault.

When he talked about it earlier on Friday, he looked much less happy than he did during his fan event appearance.

He said: ‘Unfortunately the team told me when the session ended that I was given a 10 place grid penalty for something that was not my fault and the team’s fault and obviously this has completely affected my mentality and my opinion of the weekend and what the weekend is like changed. go from now on.

‘You won’t see me so happy this weekend. What happened for me today is a very clear example of how this sport can be improved in so many ways.”