F1 drivers discuss about how they are bracing for an unknown weekend in F1 Las Vegas GP, especially on the temperature side.
The biggest talking point of F1 Las Vegas GP remains the temperature and grip levels. The weather is expected to be cold under the floodlights and generating heat on a brand new tarmac will be a big challenge, that too on a street circuit.
The F1 drivers have had time on simulator but the real feel will only come in FP1 on Friday where they can then build upon in FP2 and FP3. Pirelli expects complaints with regards to the tyres as the weather will make it difficult even with the softest of compounds.
Here’s what some of the F1 drivers think –
Carlos Sainz: “We kindof missed the track walk, but I’ve done plenty of laps on the simulator. And yeah, also looking forward to see a bit the Safety Car going around later this evening to see how much dust there is on track. The bumps. Sometimes when you see a Safety Car, you can actually get a bit of a feeling of how a slippery is going to be out there. I think Turns 1-2-3, I think it’s a good combination. I think it’s long corners. And there’s two corners that stand out a bit to the rest of the track, that is more like 90° angles, or shorter apex corners. And I think there’s a very long combined braking. I think it’s Turns Six, Seven, that is, in the simulator was actually quite tricky to get right with the braking. And yeah, apart from that, obviously, it’s all going to be about the long straights, the big braking zones, being confident, getting close to the walls. Also, on the exit of the corners. But apart from that, yeah, looks like though, just getting confidence with a low downforce car on such long straights. With high peak braking getting confidence is going to be the key.”
Fernando Alonso: “Same thing, a street circuit, very low downforce, just getting that confidence into the car, the braking areas. That will be, I think, very important. And I think with the condition on the track and not having any support races, I think the amount of track evolution during the weekend, it’s going to be bigger than normal. So that, you know, will challenge everyone, I guess we will not have two laps the same on the weekend. Every lap of the track will be a little bit better than the lap before. From P1 to the last lap on the race. So, we will have to adapt to that changeable grip, so it’s going be a challenge for everyone. I think we have to run first and then see how the car behaves and the tyre behaves. I think it could be that with this long straight, the tyres, they lose a little bit of temperature. So, we’ve been facing a little bit of tyre overheating on the last three events. And maybe here it’s a little bit the opposite. So, maybe some cars that they’re struggling on long run pace, here they are good because they can keep the tyres in the window and things like that. So, I think tomorrow we will have some answers.”
Lando Norris: “I don’t know. I guess it feels a little bit different just night race and a lot of glamour and all of this stuff. But inside it’s just another race weekend. So yeah, concentrated and focussed for the weekend ahead. Opportunities for everyone because it’s so different and a lot of question marks for everyone. So yeah, plenty of things to try and prepare for and be ready for – but also, with FP1, FP2 and FP3 a bit more time than what we’ve had the last few weekends with the Sprint races, to get our heads on things and making sure we’re prepared before Qualifying.”
Lewis Hamilton: “Definitely more than the last one. Still, I think it’s going to be a challenge and getting the tyres working this weekend and we’re often not necessarily the quickest on the straights, so that’ll be a challenge to see if we can not lose too much on the straights, but keep up with everyone in the corners. But it’s not the most technical of circuits. So hopefully, that makes it a little bit easier.”
Sergio Perez: “I think it’s a place that we have no idea how it’s going to be. It’s so different to the rest of the year, because first of all the temperatures, then it’s all about keeping the tyres in the window, keeping them warm and I think that’s going to be the challenge. So it’s going to be very different to anything else that we’ve done this year. So I don’t think we know how strong we’re going to be so it will be an interesting one.”
Pierre Gasly: “Coming here in Vegas, we know it’s a very different track, more similar to Monza with all these long straights, which hasn’t been good at all last time for us. So yeah, we’ll definitely try to do better. We’ll learn from there. And yeah, we’ll hopefully put a better performance this weekend.”
Here’s FIA with circuit details
Here’s Las Vegas GP deal for Exosphere
Here’s details on Netflix Cup
Here’s Pirelli expecting Las Vegas GP complaints
Here’s AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo livery
Here’s Red Bull, Williams with their livery
Here’s McLaren’s livery
Here’s Alpine livery
Here’s Ferrari’s livery
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
