F1 2023 - Round 22 - USA - Las Vegas

Jordan 199

So F1 heads back to Las Vegas.

TV Times:

Friday. Practice 1: 04.30 Practice 2: 08:00

Saturday. Practice 3: 04.30 Qualifying: 08.00

Sunday. Race: 06.00

All live on Sky Sports F1.

For those watching on Channel 4: Qualifying highlights will be at 11.40 on Saturday and the race highlights will be at 12.30 on Sunday.

rameire

The usual image fluff I add.

Vicxas

Have a feeling its going to be a dogsh!t race

Albon should get decent points in this race

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Temperatures were initially predicted to be as low as 4 degrees but I think it's looking a bit more normal now. If that's the case Max should win by a comfortable margin. If temps are low we could see a lot of safety cars... With the big long straights it'd be hard to predict anything other than a RB 1-2.

If anyone cares the race for 4th position is quite close, with 6 points separating Alonso, Norris and Sainz.

Checo looks to have 2nd all but wrapped up. Beats Hamilton here and it'll guarantee it.

Ferrari also have an outside chance of catching Merc for 2nd spot. They're 20 points behind but I don't think Mercedes will surrender that lead to that Ferrari team in 2 races.

Only other battle worth talking about is between Williams and Alpha Tauri. The Williams TP came out midweek and said he doesn't mind losing the position for the sake of car development, but I'd imagine behind the scenes both teams will be gunning for that 7th spot. You'd imagine it's too big an ask for AT tho as the Williams have had great speed on the straights all season.

Still though a new track brings a lot of unknowns.. And if nothing else the spectacle should be good. Dunno if I'll set the alarm yet tho...

dakar

Comparison between this year’s layout and the infamous Caesar’s Palace carpark track (found on Reddit)

klose

Mad how the FIA seemed to overlook Vegas, being in a desert and whatnot, gets very cold in the night, junior cert geography level trivia that.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121366110#Comment_121366110

Middle East Grand Prix don't seem to get that cold.

MadYaker

It’ll be the coldest race of the year so far. There’s a lot unpredictability this weekend for the teams which might make it interesting. They have no idea what the surface will be like in terms of grip or tire deg. You’d imagine the engines will like the cooler temperatures but it’s going to be hard to get proper heat into the tires.

Also something that’s different to other street circuits is they aren’t closing the streets for the whole weekend like they do for Monaco or Baku. The streets will be open to normal traffic in between FP sessions, quali and the race which could potentially be a logistical nightmare.

I won’t be watching it live anyway because the times for us are mental.

Charlie-Bravo

I am thinking that we could end up with a race similar to Turkey 2020 where there was just no grip on the new surface. And that's what will make it entertaining (but not for the right reasons unfortunately). The organisers could lay down a traction compound before Friday FP1. Anyway, looking forward to seeing how this will pan out as a spectacle.

flazio

If it swapped with Abu Dhabi, the teams could have made it into one hell of an end of season party.

PsychoPete

I did see that the streets will be open between sessions which seems mad. They seem to trying to make it like Monaco but using one of the busiest cities in America probably isn't a great idea

MadYaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121368663#Comment_121368663

I think it's completely bonkers to be honest but there's hundreds of millions of dollars/euros riding on this so you'd imagine they have a pretty good plan worked out with local law enforcement and whoever else.

Ghost Train

Spiderpig

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121368854#Comment_121368854

I think f1 jumped the gun with this abit, the Vegas residences are pretty pissed off with the whole thing. F1 were asking Vegas to pay for some of it so maybe aren't as confident in it seeing as they can't even sell it out. The prices for this were completely mental and they dropped ticket prices and the hotels also dropped their prices to get people in. This has all the makings of being a chaotic sh!tshow

AMKC

Looking forward to either a great race here or a great shitshow lol. Its going to be entertaining no matter what happens in some way anyway.

Ghost Train

Should hopefully be something special, maybe the colder temperature will mix up the order a little. Hopefully no snags that cause problems to the racing.

I do worry about the safety at these modern street circuits with long straights and high speeds. Cars being pretty heavy, a lot of energy if they leave the track. The layout reminds me of the old Hochenheim circuit through the Forrest, that was 6.9km. Vegas isn't going to be that far off at 6.2km. A lot of track to manage.

mickdw

I saw somewhere that f1 demanded 1500 dollars(from track side businesses) for every person that can fit in rooms that can view the race or else they will put closed barriers in front of the property.

Sounds like extortion to me.

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121369501#Comment_121369501

All that does is piss people off even more than they are already. I just don't think America will properly embrace F1 like the owners seem to think, the craziness of 2021 is what brought this massive global attention to F1 which won't last if it isn't dying down already

argentum

I was over there for a U2 gig 2 weeks ago and the locals are very pissed off about the whole thing ,The main noise you could hear on the strip was beeping cars as traffic was so bad 24/7 on the racetrack itself and its going on over a year

I don't think its the cash cow that some hotels expected ,I can book the same room I stayed in at Planet Hollywood overlooking the track for €600.00 on the night of the race

Some of the grand stands have been closed down as they don't have a view of the race as temp bridges were build for local traffic to drive over the track

The track itself is very under whelming , The strip will look fantastic at night but it doesn't look like a race track as its very narrow

The Sphere will probably dazzle the drivers especially if it has the emoji face on as they drive around it

I'll get up to watch it for the spectacle but I haven't watched another race this year to be honest

Ultimate Gowlbag

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121369501#Comment_121369501

They rolled that back to just flat 50 grand per business instead which was nice i guess...Also seen all taxis have a 15 dollar surcharge because europeans dont tip 😂

PsychoPete

5 liveries for Vegas

Ghost Train

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121371407#Comment_121371407

Looks like the sphere will be used during weekend for some f1 content

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/sphere-to-show-f1-las-vegas-grand-prix-real-time-pole-position-driver-helmets-on-exosphere/ar-AA1jZ3Ye

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121372894#Comment_121372894

That purple RB!

mickdw

Mclaren livery terrible imo. It looks childish with the Google chrome colours on the wheels. They should never have agreed to that.

MadYaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373253#Comment_121373253

Shocking, absolutely awful

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373655#Comment_121373655

I was thinking the opposite, it is gorgeous.

2013 vibes off it.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373401#Comment_121373401

It's been there all year. You only noticing now?

dulpit

Ferrari and red bull are okay. McLaren and alpine look no different. Williams is poor.

We've had some great one off liveries in the past (gulf McLaren, white red bull), these are poor fair...

waynescales1

Is it just me or do a lot, maybe all, of the modern liveries look very boring? They're basically all black (the McLaren in particular) with a small splash of colour here and there.

That's a distinctive livery.

recyclebin

Unless the FIA spec a minimum weight for paint the black carbon fiber look will be here to stay to save weight.

dulpit

Alfa have released a Vegas livery. It's as crap as their cars are. We won't be seeing this much on screens.

Alpha Tauri also have one, which isn't terrible:

https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1725065123650236762

That just leaves Mercedes, Haas and Aston Martin running normal liveries?

flazio

Haas I would expect to run their COTA look again.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121374003#Comment_121374003

I think the Williams one is nice.

The Mclaren one is the Worst.

The Red Bull looks good and the Ferrari and Alpine ones are OK.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121374299#Comment_121374299

That's nice. I would actually say it's the best looking Vegas Special.

AMKC

I see the race is live on Sky Showcase. Alarm set only for the spectacle. Really hope it's worth it. It will be an early one.

A lot of F1 on Sky Showcase on Sunday morning :).

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121373970#Comment_121373970

I'm were aware of how long it's on the car but those wheels are not looking any better next to slick competition.

ceadaoin.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121369119#Comment_121369119

Vegas resident here. It's a shitshow and has been for months. We had visitors recently and they wanted to see the strip obv but it was a complete mess, Bellagio fountains completely blocked, metal scaffolding everywhere, nightmare traffic. They've even blocked being able to see the strip from the bridges crossing over it. Everything looks horrible, hopefully they won't take too long taking it all back down again.

A lot of people who work on the strip are worried about even being able to get to work due to the closures. Casinos are offering incentives to staff for showing up and even giving away cars for it. It's going to be chaos and I'm glad I don't have to be anywhere near there.

Also, it's not that cold at all, definitely wouldnt ever have been as cold as 4 degrees this time of year. But its raining and is forecast to be pretty heavy/consistent on Saturday

Frank Bullitt

That AT is beautiful, reminds me of the Williams BMW test car from 1999

dulpit

The Race podcast the other day did mention that one of the reasons they are blocking viewing from bridges is to avoid issues where people congregate on bridges and don't allow traffic (cars or people) to flow, so could cause issues.

But blocking businesses static views is just petty...

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121376726#Comment_121376726

And they are going to be doing this...for 10 years!

MadYaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121376772#Comment_121376772

Depends on how this weekend goes I reckon. It's not the first time we've been told there's a new track and it's here to stay.

Hijpo

Any shots of the track and surrounds during the day?

Night pictures conveniently mask the horrors described and I haven't seen any daytime pictures.

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121377137#Comment_121377137

Here's a video, should give you some idea

https://youtu.be/gAvE3ilNCss?si=yOOC5AwfcocDMJUY

Ohmeha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121377005#Comment_121377005

Alot of investment into onto this race already including the pit complex can't see Liberty walking away from it too early into the contract, you would have think though they must have an alternative off-strip track layout as a contingency incase running down the strip becomes increasingly unpopular over the years

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121377137#Comment_121377137

Some clips on twitter of open road to normal traffic today. Looks a shambles

bennyx_o

The roads are being opened between sessions unlike Monaco

AMKC

Jeez your man running g across the motorway freeway whatever Americans call that. Not clever. A very patent driver whoever was driving that Truck Van whatever. Terrible wind noise from it do whatever it was. Some very bad American drivers pulling across lanes and not a screet of an indicator.

ceadaoin.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121377903#Comment_121377903

Welcome to driving in Vegas haha. It's not a freeway, just a normal road. Here is another video that shows the main part of the strip . Not as bad as when they were doing the resurfacing though and had most of the lanes closed. Hopefully it's all worth it!

https://twitter.com/BillKrackman/status/1724472442641580502

This is what the bridges now look like. God forbid the plebs get to see anything

Cool_CM

That "opening ceremony" ....

Andrew76

Morning folks.