Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – Las Vegas Grand Prix

Round twenty-two starts the final leg and triple header in Las Vegas with a race on the famous strip under the lights. Vegas returned to the calendar following a forty-year hiatus with a street race along the famous strip becoming America’s first night race and its first proper street circuit in thirty years.

The 3.8-mile circuit running along the Las Vegas strip, officially called the Las Vegas Boulevard. Many of the corner names come from the many casinos, entertainment venues and landmarks. One of the sections is named after Caesars Palace where the race took place in 1983. The anti-clockwise circuit balances straight-line speed and technical corners as well as several opportunities for overtaking.

Its backdrop is one of the most eye conic backdrops as it incorporates part of Las Vegas Boulevard, widely known as the Las Vegas Strip. The cars pass several local landmarks that are illuminated at night. Although the race is only in its fourth running and second at this street circuit, it has the making of a race which could become one of the modern classics and highlights

however, being in the desert, the extremes go to heat from twenty degrees in the day to freezing at night at this time of year. It makes it slightly different to say other night races as we are later in the evening with the predictions of being a cold race it could make tyre warm-up more difficult.

Last year’s race looked to be enjoyed by both drivers and fans, but in F1 ‘what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas,’ as this could mathematically decide the championship. Like Caesars Palace, this circuit is anticlockwise like Interlagos which will place added strains on the driver’s necks however they may find it easier coming into a series of ant-clockwise circuits.

Adding to the challenge of the circuit is its being anticlockwise as well as the need to balance straight-line speed and the slower technical corners, the circuit has one of the longest flat-out sections broking by a flat-out right gander. There are also a few technical sections like the first few corners of the two chicanes which could be overtaking opportunities.

This is also a night race, fears about it being too cold never really materialised as we saw a race with plenty of overtaking but get it wrong the barriers like with any street circuit are never far away. Last year’s race was impacted by some issues with the circuit as repairs needed to be made between FP1 and FP2, which was run at 02:30 AM following a two-and-a-half-hour delay.

Expect that incident with Carlos Sainz running over a drain cover, the race was largely a success with plenty of overtaking and drama as the circuit needed to be checked for drain covers were correctly wheeled down.

The first race in Vegas was won by Alan Jones who beat Alain Prost by twenty seconds following the seventy-five-lap race, however, it was not enough for Jones to win the championship as Nelson Piquet finished fifth. That allowed the Brazilian to beat Carlos Reutemann to the title by a point and Jones by four points, Jacques Laffite by six Prost by seven, to take his first title.

The following season the race was won by Michele Alberto, taking Tyrrell’s first win in over four years and becoming the eleventh different winner in sixteen races. It was also the last race in Vegas until 2023. But Keke Rosberg was fifth allowing him to secure the drivers by five points ahead of Didier Pironi Ferrari also took the constructors by the same margin ahead of McLaren.

This season with two races and a sprint to go, following a wild and wet weekend in Sao Paulo, its all now between last year’s race winner Max Verstappen and Lando Norris with three races and a sprint. Below are the scenarios, but simply Verstappen needs to finish the weekend thirty points ahead of Norris by the end of Saturday night.

Though we are still learning the trends of this street circuit the suggestions from last year point to a race with unpredictability involved though there are opportunities to overtake, but as always at a street circuits accidents and mistakes can lead to yellow/red flags and virtual/real safety cars. This makes strategy and communication we also saw plenty of overtaking during last year’s race, with the unpredictability this season and being a street circuit it only seeks to increase the drama this weekend.

Race & Circuit Guide

*Including Ceasers Palace Grand Prix

Fast facts

• Las Vegas Strip Circuit was the 12th different venue in the United States to have hosted a round of the World Championship.
• At 6.201km, Las Vegas Strip Circuit is the second longest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar, behind Spa-Francorchamps (7.004km) and just ahead of Jeddah Corniche Circuit (6.178km).
• The nearby airport, now known as Harry Reid International Airport, hosted a number of road races utilising part of the airfield in the 1960s. Jim Hall, who competed in Formula 1 between 1960 and 1963, holds the Lap Record at the now defunct track.
• Las Vegas’ High Roller Ferris wheel is the tallest trackside Ferris wheel on the F1 calendar. It stands just over two metres taller than the Singapore Flyer, near Marina Bay Street Circuit. The High Roller was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world until Ain Dubai opened in the United Arab Emirates in 2021.
• The US and Italy are the only countries to host three world championship Grands Prix in a single season, but America is the only country to regularly do so. Italy having stepped in to host Tuscan and Emilia-Romagna Grands Prix during Covid-19 in 2020, the latter contracted to 2026.

Title permutations

Max Verstappen has his first opportunity to win the driver championship in Las Vegas the first driver to do so in forty years. With three races and a sprint race over the next three races, there are eighty-six points across Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. That breaks down as a maximum of twenty-six points in each of the three grands prix plus eight from the final Sprint of the year in Qatar. This means that Verstappen will be champion in Vegas if he finishes sixty points ahead of Norris.

Verstappen is world champion in Las Vegas…

• If he finishes ahead of Norris in any position
• If Norris is second (18 points) and he finishes third with the fastest lap (16 points)
• If Norris is third (15 points) and he finishes fourth with the fastest lap (13 points)
• If Norris is fourth without the fastest lap (12 points) and he finishes fifth (10 points)
• If Norris is fifth without the fastest lap (10 points) and he finishes sixth (8 points)
• If Norris is sixth without the fastest lap (8 points) and he finishes seventh (6 points)
• If Norris is seventh without the fastest lap (6 points) and he finishes eighth (4 points)
• If Norris is eighth without the fastest lap (4 points) and Max finishes ninth (2 points)
• If Norris is ninth without the fastest lap or lower (2 points or fewer) irrespective of he finishes

Verstappen has already won the championship should Norris tie him on points in Abu Dhabi because of his win in Sao Paulo.  Norris can therefore stay in the hunt for at least one further round to Qatar if:

• He wins the race (25 points)
• He finishes second (18 points) and Verstappen is third (15 points) without the fastest lap
• He finishes third (15 points) and Verstappen is fourth (12 points) without the fastest lap
• He finishes fourth with the fastest lap (13 points) and Verstappen is fifth (10 points)
• He finishes fifth with the fastest lap (11 points) and Verstappen is sixth (8 points)
• He finishes sixth with the fastest lap (9 points) and Verstappen is seventh (6 points)
• He finishes seventh with the fastest lap (7 points) and Verstappen is eighth (4 points)
• He finishes eighth with the fastest lap (5 points) and Verstappen is ninth (2 points)
• He finishes ninth with the fastest lap (3 points) and Verstappen is 11th or lower (0 points)

The constructors cannot be wrapped up this weekend.

Event timetable

What happened in 2023?

Charles Leclerc beat his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz by half a second to take pole with a 32.726, the Monacan topped all three parts of the session, as the track continued to improve right up until the final seconds. The Monegasque’s focus now turns to ending a streak of eleven races in which he has failed to convert pole position to victory.

Max Verstappen was third but started second thanks to the damage done to Sainz’s Ferrari during his incident in FP1 when he ran over the faulty water valve cover. Verstappen was three and a half tenths off Leclerc’s time and eight thousandths faster than the Mercedes of George Russell. Qualifying had several shocks with six different teams making it through to Q3, with just over. A second covering the top nineteen in Q1.

Verstappen went on to take victory after overtaking Leclerc for the final time on the last lap and taking victory by two seconds. Throughout the race, the two fought hard but safety cars played into Red Bull’s hands after the Dutchman made his only stop under safety car at a quarter distance before surging through to take the lead on lap thirty-eight. After the Dutchman took the lead he managed to build a lead and take his eighteenth win of the season.

Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez was third despite being overtaken by Leclerc on the final lap, the Mexican finished two and a half tenths behind allowing him to seal second in the drivers. His main rival for the runners-up spot Lewis Hamilton could only manage seventh. Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll rose through the chaos on track to finish fourth with the Alpine finishing a second and a half ahead of the Canadian. The race saw several battles throughout the field a circuit providing one of the most dramatic races of the season.

What to watch for?

This weekend is Max Verstappen’s first opportunity to wrap up the championship in Vegas, however, I don’t think that will be easy as in Sao Paulo I think Red Bull was lucky to win that race. Chaos and strategy on a weekend where we had weather disruption and though it was a really good drive we know that Red Bull has struggled in recent races and has only one win at a street circuit this season.

Verstappen I’m undecided whether he will become champion this weekend, there seems too many permeations involved and the fact street circuits haven’t been a strength for Red Bull since Jeddah at the start of the season. We know that McLaren is still pushing for the constructors and that Verstappen as explained above can take the championship this weekend, it’s only the second race at this version of the race so it’s hard still to gauge what kind of patterns we will see.

Should he do so, the organisers have announced plans for the ‘most memorable championship celebration in its long and storied history.’ Keke Rosberg was the last driver to do so in 1982.

We do know that this is a highspeed street circuit, that can lead to accidents thus safety cars and maybe red flags, we saw decent around three seconds worth of track evolution between FP1 and Q3, but we didn’t have a normal Friday/Thursday practice last year. This circuit I think based on last year is one of the better street circuits but we are still learning about this circuit given the issues we had in practice last year

Last week Charles Leclerc said he believes the progress Ferrari has made on tyre management could hinder them this weekend. Last season was an exception for the team where their strength on tyre warm-up gave them the advantage allowing him and his teammate Carlos Sainz to lock out the front row. They have both won at street races this season and last year Leclerc looked very strong and was potentially in the fight last year in Vegas.

But I think anything is possible in Vegas and that it won’t stay in Vegas. Most of the focus is on Verstappen and Norris at the front as well as the championship, but we know Red Bull slipped to third behind Ferrari, they are all still mathematically in the fight. I also think on the form from the last three races they have pulled away from Mercedes, but could the street circuit bring them back into the fight with Ferrari?

We know Mercedes has kind of accepted they will finish fourth in the constructors, I know their focus is now on learning for 2025, but I still think if there is an opportunity for Lewis Hamilton in the next three race to leave Mercedes on a high they will take it and I think Vegas could be extra special.

We are now in a triple header of night/twilight races so any lessons learned this weekend can be applied to Lusail and Abu Dhabi, also we only have one practice session in Lusail and two in Abu Dhabi which are unrepresentative of qualifying, sprint qualifying, sprint and Grands Prix, so a lot can be learned. It may not totally useful as this desert is a lot cooler at night compared to the Middle East.

2023 Race Data

2023 Lap time comparison

Tyres