And after taking pole, Leclerc summed up the quandary in which F1 finds itself ahead of what owners Liberty Media would doubtless say was its most important race for years - one in which they have so far invested upwards of £500m.
Leclerc described the events of the first day of track action as "not acceptable". He is also not happy about his pre-race preparations being interrupted by a show-bizzy build-up being planned on the grid, including the fanfare of driver introductions. But the Monegasque does recognise the importance of this new race to F1 from a commercial perspective.
"I was sad to see how much criticism there was around the track," Leclerc said. "Of course it wasn't good enough and that was clear to everybody, but we mustn't forget how much effort there has been to make this event work.
"I really hope we have an exciting race to show what F1 is. Yesterday was a pretty bad start, but it is an amazing venue for F1.
"We are a sport, for sure, and we need to keep the DNA of the sport, which is the most important thing for everyone.
"But at the same time I believe opportunities like this need to be taken and a little bit of show to attract people who might not have come to a race is needed.
"You always need to find the right balance between show and sport, and that is why I am not so happy about the show [planned for] before the race, because this is a time when we need to focus on what really matters, which is racing.
"But on the other hand, the venue and event looks amazing. We will look back at the things that did not go well in order for these things not to happen, because it is clear it is not acceptable what happened in FP1."
Sainz said F1 "needs to learn to separate things - there is the sport and the show you can have both in a good combination and harmony".
He said Las Vegas was "a good opportunity for F1" but said the sport had "started on a very bad foot yesterday".
Sainz was also "extremely disappointed and very upset" that the FIA had rejected Ferrari's plea to waive his penalty for exceeding the permitted number of engine parts because it had been caused by the problems with the circuit.
Officials rejected Ferrari's argument in the face of a threatened protest from Mercedes, who are fighting them for second in the constructors' championship with just two races to go, with approximately $10m in prize money on the line.
"I expected more from the sport in this situation," Sainz said, "but for sure there will be rival teams pushing for me to get a penalty. On one level it surprises me but I have been in the sport too long [not] to understand there is too much money involved in the constructors' finishing position for a team not to threaten to apply for a penalty for me."
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