2023 - Race 22 Las Vegas

Las Vegas up in a week. Too bad no sprint race - it could be called the Las Vegas Sin City Sprint.

Weather is looking a little iffy, with storms projected coming in late next week.

It will be interesting to see turnout. Story are now about ticket prices are dropping. Started out at $2,000 for grandstand seats, but are dropping to $1,000 to 1,500.

We looked at going, but hotel prices and tickets were stupid. Las Vegas priced out a lot of fans initially with their aggressive pricing. Las Vegas even added a $15 f1 surcharge for taxis.

I guess we'll find out soon enough how the race goes. It doesn't look very appealing to me, but then again sometimes the tracks seem dull but produce good racing. It might be both cool and maybe even wet, so that could spice things up. With monster straights nobody is going to want too much downforce, but without it firing up the tires might be tricky.

As for prices.... I didn't expect much from Vegas. I personally think the place is grossly overrated, but I guess they expected people to just shell out the money. And really a lot of people go there expecting to blow money, so at least their angle makes some sense.

I have seen a few footage of the track in the last couple of days and everything is looking awesome.

There seems to be some concern rowing over the hair-pin , and it could be trickier still , if it rains .

If the surface is good , then it could be fun .

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Originally Posted by airshifter

As for prices.... I didn't expect much from Vegas. I personally think the place is grossly overrated, but I guess they expected people to just shell out the money. And really a lot of people go there expecting to blow money, so at least their angle makes some sense.

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I've been to Vegas a number of times, but for only two reasons. One is that the SCCA national convention has been held there for a number of years now and the other is to change planes on a flight to somewhere else. I'm not planning on adding a third reason any time soon. I will watch the broadcast though. :)

With dollars in the eyes, FOM couldn't make time to work out the details properly. How they missed a very obvious matter of temperature in the discussions says a lot about the people the formula is entrusted with. It would take them about a minute to check the historical temperatures of the venue to know if the timing of the race is conducive for F1 cars to go racing or not.

The hosting organizers also show how much they understand what they are about to stage. Running F1 cars in single-digit temperatures is just as astonishing as it gets. WTF

As Verstappen puts it, this is not a race but an exhibition.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

With dollars in the eyes, FOM couldn't make time to work out the details properly. How they missed a very obvious matter of temperature in the discussions says a lot about the people the formula is entrusted with. It would take them about a minute to check the historical temperatures of the venue to know if the timing of the race is conducive for F1 cars to go racing or not.

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Think snow tires. This may add a new element of drama to F1.

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Originally Posted by Used to be Starter

Think snow tires. This may add a new element of drama to F1.

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It may also cause a fatality. Cooling the engine, brakes, and gearbox may not be an issue for this race. But l doubt anyone would be pushing harder than they have to. There is too much risk to their budget for fixing damages, which l think may be plenty, judging by the apex at the end of the long straight. New virgin tarmac, cold breeze, and cold tires; recipe for chaos

It is just not an ideal temperature for F1 racing.

The temperature drama is being overblown. It not going to snow, and the temperatures are going to range from the mid-50s to mid-60s. That is the same temperature range as in Germany and Turkey in 2020.

Now, the rain might make it spicy, but that is the case regardless of the track.

Are you considering that teams might encounter significant challenges in finding optimal race settings? Conditions appear to be difficult, and current cars sometimes experience some problems depending on the track. Can we expect any surprises among the leaders in the race results?

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Originally Posted by kaspf

Can we expect any surprises among the leaders in the race results?

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I think that is a safe bet.

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Originally Posted by kaspf

Can we expect any surprises among the leaders in the race results?

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Well everything else in Vegas is a lottery . . . .

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Originally Posted by F1nKS

The temperature drama is being overblown. It not going to snow, and the temperatures are going to range from the mid-50s to mid-60s. That is the same temperature range as in Germany and Turkey in 2020.

Now, the rain might make it spicy, but that is the case regardless of the track.

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If it turns out this way, we are set for some very exciting bracing them. The PIG may turn out to be a Redbull burster. I hope a midfield team wins it. A Yuki or Albon win would be famous l think. Better still, a Sargeant win or podium would be just as brilliant. Or any of the Haas or Alfa Romeo drivers.

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Originally Posted by Used to be Starter

Think snow tires. This may add a new element of drama to F1.

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It would be historic if it actually snowed during the race. It would be a first but l doubt it would snow. High single digits probably, which is still challenging.

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Originally Posted by kaspf

Are you considering that teams might encounter significant challenges in finding optimal race settings? Conditions appear to be difficult, and current cars sometimes experience some problems depending on the track. Can we expect any surprises among the leaders in the race results?

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Most cars at the sharp end of the grid have very narrow setup windows. It would not be unusual to see that some cars may suffer greatly with these low temperatures. Think Mercedes at breezy Sao Paulo. The tyres are going to be a handful. They would lose a lot of temperature along the main straight, hence would arrive at the dome chicane with colder brakes and tricky tyres. We should expect a few crashes and lots of run offs at this corner over the weekend.

The PIG is going to be a test for drivers and engineers alike.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

If it turns out this way, we are set for some very exciting bracing them. The PIG may turn out to be a Redbull burster. I hope a midfield team wins it. A Yuki or Albon win would be famous l think. Better still, a Sargeant win or podium would be just as brilliant. Or any of the Haas or Alfa Romeo drivers.

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I hope it is an exciting race. But who knows? So far, 10 minutes into P1, cars are dropping out for reliability.

P1 has been red-flagged and will not be restarted after 10 minutes. Sainz hit what seemed to be a manhole cover and damaged his car.

The FIA is now doing inspections of all manhole covers and conduct any repairs needed before the next practice session.

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Originally Posted by F1nKS

P1 has been red-flagged and will not be restarted after 10 minutes. Sainz hit what seemed to be a manhole cover and damaged his car.

The FIA is now doing inspections of all manhole covers and conduct any repairs needed before the next practice session.

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It is looking like it might be as fast as Monza

Interesting that here in the US, where street racing via IndyCar is common, no one thought to secure the various manhole covers and other pavement access points to the city infrastructure. That was a lot of damage to Carlos' car.

FP2 scheduled to start at 2:30 am local time. Fans ejected from the track and not able to watch. Can this get any better? Apparently fans who bought 1 day tickets, because of the cost, were ejected with everyone else. I wonder if they will received refunds?

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Originally Posted by Used to be Starter

Interesting that here in the US, where street racing via IndyCar is common, no one thought to secure the various manhole covers and other pavement access points to the city infrastructure. That was a lot of damage to Carlos' car.

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It was unfortunate for Sainz and Ferrari. I think the ten-place drop was grossly unfair. Why punish a driver and team for unforeseen damage through no fault of their own? The stewards are unbelievable.

Baku and Singapore had manhole issues on their first few races. It has even happened in Monaco. So this is not new. It is simply teething problems to be expected. Hence, unfair to blow it out of proportion. That said, I say; l have never seen Toto Woolf so mad as he was in the team principles media session. Fred Vasseur was beside himself with annoyance, he could not answer any questions. And l don't blame him. In this cost cap era that does not make any allowances for force majeur, that incident would cost Ferrari dearly, then add the ten place grid drop to that, ouch.

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Originally Posted by Used to be Starter

FP2 scheduled to start at 2:30 am local time. Fans ejected from the track and not able to watch. Can this get any better? Apparently fans who bought 1 day tickets, because of the cost, were ejected with everyone else. I wonder if they will received refunds?

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Apparently, the track would be reopened to public thoroughfare at 04:00 am local time, regardless of whatever happens in the session starting at 02:30 am.

I think it is going to be an interesting race. That long straight with DRS is going to offer lots of overtaking being a wide track. I am going to stay up to watch it.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

It was unfortunate for Sainz and Ferrari. I think the ten-place drop was grossly unfair. Why punish a driver and team for unforeseen damage through no fault of their own? The stewards are unbelievable.

Baku and Singapore had manhole issues on their first few races. It has even happened in Monaco. So this is not new. It is simply teething problems to be expected. Hence, unfair to blow it out of proportion. That said, I say; l have never seen Toto Woolf so mad as he was in the team principles media session. Fred Vasseur was beside himself with annoyance, he could not answer any questions. And l don't blame him. In this cost cap era that does not make any allowances for force majeur, that incident would cost Ferrari dearly, then add the ten place grid drop to that, ouch.

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I agree completely about the unfairness of the drop.

As a former marshal, one of the very first things you do on a street course is inspect all of the utility covers to be sure they are properly secured (Along with the walls and fencing.) Later info says it wasn't just the covers themselves which came loose, it was both the covers and the concrete surround.

The statement released by the stewards did make it clear that the only reason the penalty was applied was that their arms were tied in the matter per the regs as they currently stand. I'd imagine Ferrari and other teams will push the issue... at least I hope so.


As for the weather and general hate, all part of the media hype train and overdone to the max. We won't know for sure how the racing is until it happens, the F1 has had to deal with similar temps and wet conditions in the past.

Qualifying surprises:

1. Mcclaren - 16 and 19
2. Perez and Hamilton out in Q2. Especially Perez sitting in the pit lane during everybody else last run.
3. Ferrari dominating qualifying. Got to feel for Sainz. F1 rules are hard to understand why they do some things.
4. Williams's great qualifying.
5. Magnuson making it to P3

Question for the race.
1. Can Verstappen and Leclerc put on a show?

2. Can Williams how their places and bring in a big point haul for them?

General impression of Las Vegas

1. The track looks much wider than some of the safety car runs I had seen.

2. I thought they wanted Las Vegas for the lights, but they seemed to have toned down all the neon. Kym Illman remarked about how dark it is in places that usually are well lighted at other F1 races.

3. Looks like the weather is going to be non-factor. Rain showers look to be after the race.

Time will tell how the race pans out, but that was an interesting qually.

Sergio went to the pit and I was in shock. Unless they ran him lower on fuel I suspect maybe a car problem. It just doesn't seem that RB are the type to blow it that bad, the track was evolving quickly and it was clearly best to stay out. Though cars did multiple laps on the tires, it didn't seem to make them too difficult during the first runs, just not as quick as once they worked some heat into them. If it leads to great tire life through the race, it might mix up strategy calls.

Though Ferrari were quick (as well as Williams) I suspect the Ferrari's might go through the tires quicker as well. If not, Charles should have a good shot to take the win.



Unless I catch a second wind, I think I'm just going to watch the race tomorrow. Though I often stay up really late, I could use some sleep today.

The start of the weekend wasn't great but it was a really good race. Had a great time watching it.

After all the negative hype, I thought the race was fantastic. If Vegas gives us this kind of action on a regular basis I can easily say I would like it more than Monaco, Baku, and Jeddah and probably even Marina Bay. The jury is still out of if it's like this every year, but overall compared to a lot of tracks it gave us a lot of action,

And for once, we had a car that looked like it would really compete head to head with the RB and Max. Though Charles got a poor start and pushed off, he could fight back. And he did.

Though there were some clumsy moves here and there, overall the racing was good. The track is wide enough to give multiple line options to the drivers, and they attacked each other through a lot of areas of the track. Though the straights are long, the DRS passes were no guarantee, but often enough to get a car within striking distance for the other sections.

I don't like the over the top limo ride type crap, but if it comes with good racing I'll take it!

Race = great.
Whole weekend - Bunk.

I wish they wouldn't come back here.