And so, the single most hyped-up Formula 1 world championship grand prix of all time has arrived: the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix is this weekend.
A unique event on the calendar, the race will take place on a Saturday instead of the traditional Sunday.
But while the sport hopes that all eyes will be on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit this weekend, what will the fans truly be talking about? Here are the talking points for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Formula 1 goes all in on Vegas
Las Vegas is synonymous with the biggest headline names in American entertainment: Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Liberace – Carrot Top. After poaching the Raiders NFL team from Oakland, Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium will host the upcoming Super Bowl LVIII in February.And yet, despite its international reputation as the ultimate party city and playground of the rich, famous and those who aspire to be both, this weekend’s grand prix could be one of the biggest events Sin City has ever seen.
The first grand prix promoted by Formula One Management itself, the Las Vegas Grand Prix has been pushed as being the ultimate vision of what the sport’s owners, Liberty Media, see that grands prix could and should be – major events in major destination cities with a Super Bowl atmosphere. If the Miami Grand Prix at the Miami Dolphins stadium was the blueprint, Vegas takes that model to a whole new level with neon lights, casinos, high-end hotels and other eye-catching architecture.
The millions of dollars’ worth of investment that both Formula 1 and the city of Las Vegas have ploughed into this event is unprecedented. The volume of work required to the world famous strip to accommodate the race has caused disruption for and discord among the city’s residents and workers, but a multi-year agreement to host the race shows how much the sport’s owners are betting on this event becoming the biggest grand prix on the calendar each year.
With Formula 1 betting the house that it can continue to grow its appeal and popularity in the richest country on the planet with three races a season, it needs the first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix to truly live up to the hype.
Can Mercedes recover from its “worst weekend in 13 years”?
While, as ever, Red Bull and Max Verstappen remain favourites to win during what is now officially the most dominant season the sport has ever seen, closest rivals Mercedes will be looking to avoid another woeful performance like they experienced at the last round in Brazil.
As a result of their performance, rivals Ferrari chipped two points off Mercedes’ advantage over them in the fight for second place in the constructors’ championship. Team principal Toto Wolff described his team’s performance as “inexcusable” and went as far as calling it the team’s “worst weekend in 13 years”. However, Wolff says the team are now confident that they will not endure the same difficulties this weekend.
“We understand our mistakes and can explain our performance loss to the field,” Wolff said. “That’s important as we look to secure P2 in the constructors’ championship.”
Even so, this could be another tough weekend for the team. The W14 does not heat its tyres as effectively as rivals’ cars do, and Ferrari suspect the track configuration will suit their car. The fight for second in the championship could look very different come Sunday morning in Vegas.
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Last roll of the dice for Logan Sargeant?
As Formula 1’s only American driver – and the first for many years – Williams’ Logan Sargeant is also the only driver on the grid with the privilege a trio of ‘home’ races in 2023. While Miami was the rookie’s true home round, the Williams driver will naturally receive extra attention throughout the week’s build up and the weekend itself.
Williams took a gamble on their junior driver by promoting him into Formula 1 after just a single full season in F2 for 2023. The 22-year-old has had to learn difficult lessons in his first season – including just how difficult it is to keep a Formula 1 car on the track at all times. However, Sargeant’s run in the recent triple header was probably his strongest three-round run all season and his team certainly have the potential to compete for minor points again this weekend.
While Sargeant’s future isn’t officially determined yet, the fact that he is listed to run in the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test suggests Williams aren’t looking to replace him for 2024. However, a strong run in the Las Vegas Grand Prix could go a long way to helping him change the narrative heading into that likely second season.
White line worries
Thankfully, the street circuit nature of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit should go a long way to preventing those kinds of problems dominating the weekend. Like Monaco or Singapore or even Montreal, many of the corner exits in Vegas will be lined by barriers, with little risk of drivers having times deleted for running four wheels out of the white lines. If any drivers do, it’s near-certain they will end up with heavily damaged cars as a result.
A more likely problem will be drivers who abandon attempts to turn into the many corners on the circuit whenever they lock up or carry too much speed, leading to them having to take the escape roads and making a 180 degree turn to return to the track. In that way, Vegas could have more in common with Baku than any other circuit on the calendar.
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Power unit concerns?
The penultimate grand prix of the championship, round 21 of 22, is an especially brutal point in the year to hold a race where power units will be pushed to their limits with one of the longest full-throttle sections on the calendar.
Every driver on the grid has used up all their four power units allocated to them for the 2023 season (increased from three after the championship began), with at least a quarter of the grid having taken penalties for using a fifth unit. That means the vast majority of the field have only power units available to them that have already had a fair amount of miles put on them already.
Russell was forced to retire from his Mercedes the Brazilian Grand Prix last time out after his power unit, which was due to be relieved of duty following that same race, began to run excessively hot and was at risk of imminent failure. Many power units will be on their last legs in Vegas, but the cold ambient temperatures may go a long way to help prevent further instances of overheating.
Whether some may choose to take a grid penalty for the benefit of a fresh new power unit for these final two rounds is always a possibility.
AlphaTauri on a charge
Williams could do with Sargeant having a strong race this weekend in Las Vegas, because they are currently feeling growing pressure for seventh place in the constructors’ championship from AlphaTauri. After ten rounds of being rooted to the bottom of the standings, Red Bull’s junior team has leapt up from tenth to eighth over the last two rounds thanks to a 16-point haul through the triple-header.
Even the five points that Yuki Tsunoda scored in Sao Paulo could have been more. After Tsunoda picked up three points in the sprint race, team mate Daniel Ricciardo was struck by debris at the start of the grand prix, before an unfortunate quirk of the red flag rules left him a lap down on the rest of the field for the remainder of the race, unable to make any progress despite his strong pace. Tsunoda claimed a couple more points in ninth, but was nursing a clutch problem in the later laps and lost several seconds with a mistake early in the race.
Although Williams should enjoy long straights of the Las Vegas Strip circuit, AlphaTauri will be on the prowl to take more points out of their advantage before the final showdown in Abu Dhabi.
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Frosty welcome
While there are so many unknowns about how the first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix will play out, one thing teams will be expecting is very chilly temperatures.
Naturally, that is expected to be a challenge for drivers and teams alike as they fight to keep their cars and their tyres in the best possible operating window during one of the coldest rounds of the season.
Saturday night’s alright for racing
As if the Las Vegas Grand Prix did not have enough about it to make it a unique event on the F1 calendar, this will also be the first world championship round in decades not to be held on a Sunday.
The offset schedule conveniently prevents the grand prix from clashing with the typical slate of NFL games held on Sunday evening, which Formula 1 hope will draw more viewers to the grand prix. But with the east coast of the USA being asked to stay up until 1am just to watch the start, whether that proves a winning tactic remains to be seen.
More Saturday races are the shape of the future for F1, however. As the first two rounds on the 2024 F1 calendar will take place on Saturdays, only one of the next four grands prix has a Sunday date.
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2023 F1 season
- RaceFans’ complete 2023 season review
- The F1 drivers who pulled off the 10 biggest charges through the field in 2023
- Alpine ended season ‘operating at a much higher level’ – Gasly
- Watch 10 of the best ‘proper’ overtakes from F1, IndyCar, WEC and more in 2023
- Verstappen voted Driver of the Year for third year in a row by RaceFans readers
Are you going to the Las Vegas Grand Prix?
If you’re heading to USA for this weekend’s race, we want to hear from you:
Who do you think will be the team to beat in the Las Vegas Grand Prix? Have your say below.
2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- Tost blames track inspection oversight for Sainz’s damage in Las Vegas
- Hard to repeat “rare” combination of factors behind Vegas shunt – Norris
- Las Vegas Grand Prix “got a lot more hate than it deserved” – Sargeant
- Williams’ “incredible” Vegas qualifying made us “poor” in race – Vowles
- Piastri is first rookie to take two fastest laps in a season since Hamilton
Electroball76
14th November 2023, 7:45
How could it live up to the hype?
Backstage at Vegas: the race director is ‘taken out’ with a steel chair shot in a vicious unprovoked attack by Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran and Doja Cat.
In the arena, the houselights dim. The music hits and in the centre if the room is none other than Mad Micky Masi. Now appointed as temporary director of everthing, Masi wastes no time in declaring all previous results this season “Null and Void!”
Instead, the championship will be decided tonight in a battle royale on the track. Winner takes all under the lights of the Las Vegas strip.
After a rigged draw, the grid is decided. Logan Sargeant is on pole. The crowd gasp in antici..pation.
After a boxing intro and dance number by Beyonce, the race gets under way.
Logan is pushed out, he’s last!
Heroically battling back, upshifting all the way, Logan hits the last lap speeding four-wide with Verstappen, Hamilton and Vettel. It’s almost a photo-finish but Logan’s nose was clearly ahead.
The fireworks erupt, the crowd go crazy, U2 launch into an Elvis number with The Weeknd.
Logan Sargeant is the New Formula One World Champion.!…
or is he?
Tune in next week!
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
14th November 2023, 8:34
Comment of the season – right here!!!!!
elchinero (@elchinero)
14th November 2023, 15:14
https://jalopnik.com/i-hope-it-bankrupts-them-las-vegas-residents-enraged-a-1851009102
Sham (@sham)
14th November 2023, 11:02
Very good… Really. :D
As for will it live up to the hype? For true racing fans, if it produces an epic race, then yes.
Looking at the track, in cold temperatures? No.
Formula one is about the racing, the technology and the circuit. Does anyone actually care where that circuit is? Of course not – build an absolute replica of Spa or Silver stone on an island in the middle of the ocean and the track will still be awesome.
Build this track anywhere, and it won’t be.
Nick T.
14th November 2023, 11:11
After reading this, I desperately need to see a WWE inspired Formula 1 series. Drivers’ girlfriends (and mothers) getting into cat fights, Chase Carey getting his mustache ripped clean off by Alonso post-race after Carey had DQ’ed for not “speaking American” on the car radio, Hamilton fake weeping between each session after we see one fake gf or bf storms out of his personal motorhome and Lance’s hopeless attempts to keep pace in inter!rival smack!talking with every car radio having been connected to allow communication between all drivers.
dot_com (@dot_com)
14th November 2023, 14:03
Brilliant
Nick T.
14th November 2023, 11:02
All the hype seems to just be the media telling us there is so much hype. In places where fans dictate discussion, there’s not that much talk about Vegas. Talk about Vegas only markedly increased when, like most every other race, it was the next one on the calendar.
Asd
14th November 2023, 11:24
Exactly. It’s like those American celebrities who are known just for being known.
The Las Vegas hype is essentially about there being hype. The supposed hype has ben truly hyped up.
Nick T.
14th November 2023, 22:22
That rich wife with collagen filled lips EARNED her celebrity, ASD!
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
14th November 2023, 11:29
What hype?
I just saw 2 video’s explaining what is wrong with the vegas GP and what disaster it might be because ofnthe cold temperature and exorbitant high ticket prices. And that is about it for what was “out there”
Other than that there was zero social media hype or any hype at all…
Jere (@jerejj)
14th November 2023, 11:30
Formula 1 goes all in on Vegas – Hopefully, the event will be a success, but for the right reasons.
Can Mercedes recover from its “worst weekend in 13 years”? – Yes.
Last roll of the dice for Logan Sargeant? – Not necessarily as the fact he’ll participate in the post-season test (something I’ve also noticed) all but confirms his continuation because no team would run a driver in a post-season they don’t intend to have as a full-time driver in the following season, not that they’ve really had a strong incentive to sack him after only a single season anyway.
White line worries – Track limits per se indeed should be a non-issue, although from my virtual driving experience, the northeast section, as well as both the corner before & after Strip provide a corner-cutting opportunity in some scenarios, but I’m sure everything will be okay.
Power unit concerns? – Maybe.
AlphaTauri on a charge – Yes, but probably too little too late for P7.
Frosty welcome – Cool, but too warm for that.
Saturday night’s alright for racing – Yes, & while this unusual scheduling prevents NFL timing clashes, viewers in Europe are still the primary reason for a Saturday late-evening local start time, if not the only factor.
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
14th November 2023, 11:33
For most of the viewers its a very early sunday, 6 or 7 AM for most of them, in europe… so no it’s not the best time. The sunday early afternoon would be way better, having diner and then watch F1
Jere (@jerejj)
14th November 2023, 19:53
8 for me in UTC+2, so ofc more ideal than further west, but I generally prefer morning timings to afternoon & especially evening ones.
Nick T.
14th November 2023, 22:24
I love that this race will be over early in the AM, so my entire Sunday is clear.
Coventry Climax
14th November 2023, 11:34
That about says it all, doesn’t it? Liberty’s vision of where F1 should go, literally.
Give me a day at a real race track, anyone, anytime, over this nonsense.
dot_com (@dot_com)
14th November 2023, 14:07
Well said. I secretly hope that it’s a flop. I don’t think we need to have three grands prix in America, and it’s destined to be such a cringey, cheesy glamourfest. I’m looking forward to seeing the track, it looks pretty interesting, but I’m dreading what F1 itself will look like at a fully fledged Liberty organized race in Las Vegas.
Nick T.
14th November 2023, 22:39
I love all the positivity surrounding this track on RF. With predictions so dire from everyone, I’m now 30% convinced it’ll be a cracker. Well, if it isn’t, at least they’ll be a lot of them there.
While I detest Vegas, it’d be hilarious if really was a great race due to the pile on about what a disaster the LV GP will be and how much they hate the place, the timing, the track, etc.
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
15th November 2023, 0:09
Hopefully a new king of motorsport will rise. Some open wheel class with powerfull engines and downforce like f1 but mkre europe and asia oriented.
Or is there a european raceclass resembling f1 thats streamed live? Willing to pay , as i’m not having to pay for f1tv anymore when more of this amerikan barf hits the fan
kpcart
14th November 2023, 12:35
Gonna sound like a negative nelly again about this event, but having driven this track in Assetto Corsa, this track is a typical rubbish tilke-drome, absolute rubbish race track, probably bottom 4 of the current grid. it will be a procession with only drs passes, and only miracle red flags will transform it into a race of any interest. i wont watch it, but hope the 6 minute highlight video f1 puts up on youtube will have some real racing moments, but i doubt it. US Inydycar street circuits are far more interesting, and i fail to see how this race will produce anywhere near as good a race as any US indycar circuit does with cars that can actually pass each other. F1 will never get it right in the USA. This is a proper US track with an F1 car from 2 days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYFNH_OmaGc
Steve
14th November 2023, 15:14
Are you talking about Sonoma, a track Indycar abandoned because the races were boring and barely had any passing. That track?
Nick T.
14th November 2023, 22:29
Sears Point (officially, now Sonoma) is amazing track I’ve raced on multiple times and always been great for passing in touring cars. However, while some areas are wide, some are very narrow by F1 standards and with how massively wide + heavy these cars are now, I’m thinking it might not be suitable.
kpcart
15th November 2023, 12:18
yes that track, still a better track than nearly all of the f1 tracks. Try it in a sim game, it is a proper drivers track unlike this las vegas garbage that a 12yo can learn in 3 laps on ps5 with a control pad.
Steve
15th November 2023, 14:39
So basically you want people to play video games to get a feel of the track. Well real life said the track wasn’t a good track for modern open wheel racing. The track was built in the late 60’s and for open wheel cars from another era, which had less horsepower, far less downforce and much smaller cars. The Indycars bypassed the last turn because there wasn’t adequate run off area. So you got some demo laps from some old F1 cars and it looked cool. So what. When you put a grid of 20 F1 cars where they actually have to have room to race it isn’t a good track. The Indycar races there showed that and they raced from 2005-2018. The majority of the Indycar fans were crying to go back to Laguna Seca and got their wish even if it was a track that was only marginally better for overtaking.
kpcart
14th November 2023, 12:38
ill just leave this here, this is far more impressive than anything this las vegas garbage will produce, proper great f1 car driven at full speed at a great US race track 2 days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3wc34DtSOw&t=212s
kpcart
14th November 2023, 12:52
And for those that dont know Tony Kanaan, he is an Indycar legend, former indy500 winner and he won on this track in 2005. He was also mentored and friended by Ayrton Senna in the early 1990s as he was an upcoming Brazillian great driver just like Senna, so he is one of the few drivers still around that have a bond to Senna.
elchinero (@elchinero)
14th November 2023, 13:21
Kanaan? Senna? Won on this track in 2005?
Coventry Climax
15th November 2023, 12:15
That was an easy google. Yep, Kanaan won, on that track, august 28th.
kpcart
15th November 2023, 12:19
yes, it is history you obviously dont know about, hence why i mentioned it.
Don
14th November 2023, 14:46
No, IndyCar had a street race in Vegas near the Fremont Street Experience in 2007. It was won by Will Power. It lasted only one year as reunification of Champ Car and the IRL occurred in 2008.
some racing fan
15th November 2023, 13:50
Yes! Sears Point/Sonoma is a great circuit located in Napa Valley wine country. It looks a little like Tuscany. It’s often overshadowed by Laguna Seca, even though it is closer to San Francisco.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
14th November 2023, 13:18
This fan will be focusing on the backs of his eyelids.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
14th November 2023, 13:54
This will truly be a “the emperor has no clothes” moment. The time of year is wrong for the location. The time of day is wrong for almost all F1 markets. The place in the racing season is wrong although thankfully the season actually ended a few weeks ago so a horrible outcome here at a first-time circuit won’t affect the standings. It’s a lot of money to spend to watch a parade of cars but so is Monaco so we just need to think of Las Vegas as Monaco II or Monaco West or Uncouth Monaco. Will be checking this site to read the results before investing anytime watching a replay as American football is on all day on Sunday. This race kicks off around 1:00 AM Sunday, qualifying is at 3:00AM Saturday East coast US. There are leaves to rake so I need to be peppy during the day on Saturday.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
15th November 2023, 0:46
Now you’ve taken me back to school days.
“But a crop is a crop
And who is to say where
The harvest shall stop.”
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
14th November 2023, 14:30
I can’t wait to see Liberty’s glowing reports and fan surveys that say that yes indeed it lived up to the hype when in fact it’s most unlikely that it will.
I’ll have a look at results on this site and look at comments about the race – probably going to be way more accurate than anything the spin machine puts out.
StephenH
14th November 2023, 14:43
Short answer?
No.
SteveR (@stever)
14th November 2023, 16:04
Hype? I guess F1 is in some sort of feedback loop; I’m a Yank and if I didn’t follow F1 I wouldn’t even know there was going to be a race. Yep, hype about hype…..
Anthony
14th November 2023, 16:05
Seriously Will, without articles like this I would have no idea there is hype. Certainly it’s not coming from the fans.
David B
14th November 2023, 17:38
What ‘hype’?. Nobody i know is bothered about the Vegas race. Nobody I’ve seen on any of the various F1 outlets seems bothered. The only people i’ve seen hyping it up are the media.
bull mello (@bullmello)
14th November 2023, 18:35
Carrot Top???
In Vegas – my supposed hype and talking points…
Too cold and frigid.
Can’t see the “track or course” in the daylight. Are there sunlight photos of this race track? Haven’t seen them yet. Maybe the many casino logo lights should glow the race.
Can we see the card images on the curbs? Nice idea! ;-)
Tires. On ice slippery or just not enough traction or maybe a surprise…
Walls too close to the cars. Reminds me of Jeddah. Stay safe drivers!
Maybe wait for midnight, depending on your time zone. Fairly darkness in Vegas.
Engine blowups? This race “course” with long straights was not designed properly. In the future it should be designed better or not held there ever again. Please.
Maybe Carrot Top could be the flag waver with his glimmering shining red hair. That would be a fitting end to the Vegas spectacle.
Jonathan Parkin
14th November 2023, 19:14
Brazil 2023 worse than Spain 2016. Even though both Mercs were out on Lap 1 on that occasion. Errr Okay then!!!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
15th November 2023, 2:39
I guess he’s talking performance wise, since spain 2016 was likely to be a 1-2 without the crash.
sam
14th November 2023, 21:54
I haven’t seen any hype, except here I guess.
DonSmee (@david-beau)
15th November 2023, 1:44
Oh Author… you so quickly forget the 2019 German GP as Mercedes’ worst weekend.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
15th November 2023, 2:41
I’m pretty sure wolff is talking about the performance, don’t forget hamilton was out in front dominating that race until the mistake in the rain which damaged his wing and caused that 50 sec pit stop, along with other mistakes after.
In brazil there was just no pace whatsoever.
Khürt Williams (@khurtwilliams)
15th November 2023, 1:51
Looks like things are going well.
https://jalopnik.com/it-looks-like-formula-1-placed-the-wrong-bet-on-las-veg-1851021098
KaIIe (@kaiie)
15th November 2023, 6:12
Regarding the race start time, I find it perfect: it will be Sunday morning 8 am here in Finland, so reminds me of Suzuka or some other Asian rounds.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
15th November 2023, 11:36
The thing I’m looking most forward to is the start time. The last 3 rounds in the Americas have been a long hard slog for us Australians! 5pm on Sunday afternoon is perfect!