#F1 @Heineken Silver #LasVegasGP 2023 Preview. #Formula1
1982 Formula 1 Caesars Palace Grand Prix Race Start, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America. Bernard Cahier/Getty Images. 2023 Las Vegas GP Preview, Las Vegas Grand Prix Preview, F1 Las Vegas Strip, 2023 F1 Las Vegas Preview.
2023 Las Vegas GP Preview – After Max Verstappen took a dominant victory in both the Sprint and Sao Paulo Grand Prix to overtake four-time world champion Alain Prost on the all-time winners list with 52 wins to his name, the penultimate round of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to Las Vegas, Nevada, United States for the first time since 1982, but this time on a temporary street circuit featuring the famous “Las Vegas Strip” for the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023. This will mark the 1100th round of the Formula One World Championship. This will be the third GP in the United States to take place on the 2023 schedule after Miami and Austin Grands Prix and will mark the first time since 1982 that there will be three races held in the US in a single season.
2023 Las Vegas GP Preview – A look at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit
The Las Vegas Strip Circuit is a 6.201 kilometre (3.853 mile) temporary street circuit, which runs anti-clockwise and has 17 corners and a 1.900 kilometre (1.181 mile) straight. It begins in a former parking lot which was bought by Formula One for $240 million and developed for the paddock and pit area, and also contains a permanent track.
The first corner is a hairpin, and after that the circuit bends slightly left and then into a fast right, transitioning from the permanent track to the city streets. The cars go 800 metres down Koval Lane, before entering a slow 90 degree right hander. It then enters a long, sweeping left which encircles the new Sphere arena, before going through a left-right twisty section and then a slightly quick left, which transitions onto Sands Avenue.
The track then goes through two very rapid bends on Sands Avenue before entering a slow left onto the Las Vegas Strip. This is a 1.900 kilometre (1.181 mile) flat-out section featuring two straights and a slight sweeping-left, which goes past some of Las Vegas’ most famous casinos and hotels such as Caesars Palace, the Bellagio and the Venetian. The circuit then goes through a tighter sequence of slow corners onto Harmon Avenue, down an 800 metre straight before going through a very quick left to complete the tour and transitions back to the permanent part of the circuit past the pits.
Las Vegas previously stages two Grands Prix under the Caesars Palace Grand Prix moniker in 1981 and 82, and also was the season finale on both occasions, with 1980 Formula One World Champion Alain Jones winning the 1981 race and Michele Alboreto taking victory for Tyrrell at the 1982 event. Meanwhile Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg scored the title in 81 and 82 respectively with fifth-place finishes.
The Las Vegas Strip Circuit is 6.201km (3.853 miles) in length with 17 corners and runs in an anti-clockwise direction.
Race distance is 310.050km (192.650 miles) in length with 50 laps in total.
2023 Las Vegas GP Preview – Onboard virtual lap of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit
Checkout the onboard virtual lap of the new Las Vegas Strip Circuit courtesy of Oracle Red Bull Racing and Sergio Perez right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwHR087yzMo
2023 Las Vegas GP Preview – Tyres
Sole-tyre supplier Pirelli will be bringing with them the softest tyres in their range to Las Vegas, the C3 white side-walled Hard rubber, the yellow-marked C4 P-Zero Medium tyres and the C5 red-branded Soft compounds along with the green-branded Intermediate and blue-marked Full Wet tyre compounds in case of rain.
There will be two sets of C3 Hards, three C4 Mediums and eight sets of C5 Soft tyres for all drivers.
2023 Las Vegas GP Preview – DRS Zones
There will be two DRS Zones at Las Vegas. The first detection point is ten metres after turn two, with the activation point 20 metres after turn four. The second detection zone is ten metres after turn 12 with the activation point 20 metres before turn 14.
2023 Las Vegas GP Preview – Pitlane Speed Limits
Pitlane speed limits will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Verstappen cruises to dominant 52nd-career victory at Sao Paulo GP
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen overtook four-time world champion Alain Prost for fourth on the all-time winners list with 52 victories to his name after taking a dominant win at the Brazil GP having fended off McLaren’s Lando Norris early on.
This was also Verstappen’s 17th victory of the 2023 campaign controlling the proceedings from start-to-finish.
At the beginning of the formation lap, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who was meant to start on the front row alongside Verstappen lost his hydraulics and spun off into the wall at turn seven, with the Ferrari SF-23 racer sustaining too much damage and was forced to retire before the race began.
When the 71-lap Brazil GP began, pole-sitter Verstappen made a solid getaway into the Senna S as McLaren’s Lando Norris jumped past the two Aston Martins into second place meanwhile behind them Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon suffered contact and got clipped by Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg who was squeezed by both the Williams and his Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen, then Albon went into the path of Magnussen – the pair collided, sending the Williams and other Haas VF-23 into the wall and off the circuit respectively.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo were also caught up in the opening incident with both drivers suffering damage to their rear wings by – Magnussen colliding with the former and a tyre carcass from the Albon-Magnussen-Hulkenberg incident got kicked up on the latter’s rear wing respectively and were forced to end their race early.
Originally the safety car was deployed before race stewards called for a red flag to remove all the debris and repair the tyre wall on the outside of turn one.
The order for the standing start when all continued was Verstappen on pole, Norris second, Hamilton third, Alonso fourth, Stroll fifth, Russell sixth, Perez seventh, Sainz eighth, Ocon ninth and Tsunoda tenth.
Both respective teams of Piastri and Ricciardo were pushing to repair their cars to get them out for the restart.
When the restart began following the lengthy 25 minute delay, pole-sitter Verstappen got a comfortable lead into turn one, meanwhile Norris had managed to keep Hamilton at bay into the Senna S.
On the rundown to turn four, Alonso ran into the slipstream of Hamilton and dived on the inside of the Mercedes to take third place.
On lap five, Verstappen held a 0.949 second lead over Norris with Alonso third, Hamilton fourth, Russell fifth and Perez rounding out the top six runners.
On the sixth tour, Verstappen had not escaped the DRS range of a hunting MCL60 of Norris, and with DRS enabled now. Behind them Alonso has dropped back, and so has Hamilton. Russell had DRS, but the Mercedes driver had his hands full with Perez behind in that very rapid RB19.
Lap eight saw a fight for the lead mounting as Norris kept pressure on race leader Verstappen with the Briton attempting to make a move on the outside of the Red Bull into turn four, but the Dutchman kept the MCL60 behind.
A tour later Norris was too far back behind from Verstappen and by lap ten, Verstappen’s lead increased to 2.052 seconds over the McLaren with Alonso third, Hamilton fourth and his Mercedes team-mate Russell tucked behind him in fifth.
On the 11th lap, sixth-placed Perez was right behind Russell with DRS assistance on the main-straight and had a look into turn one, but the latter covered the Mexican and Russell managed to have DRS from his team-mate on the run-down into turn four.
Verstappen, Norris and Perez were well ahead of fourth-placed Hamilton who was managing his tyres after that race-restarting flat spot he suffered into the opening corner with a train of cars behind the Briton.
On lap 14, the battle for fifth saw Perez finally with DRS assistance dived up the inside of Russell into the Senna S and moved up to take the position, then on the rundown into turn four, Russell got DRS back and ran wheel-to-wheel alongside the Red Bull being a nudge ahead before Perez made a late lunge into turn four to make the move stick.
Lap 17 in the battle for fourth, Perez was right behind the Mercedes of Hamilton and a tour later, with DRS the former got into the slipstream of the seven-time world champion and made the move on the inside into turn one to grab the position and the Mexican managed to cover Hamilton into turn four.
On lap 19, Hamilton made his stop for a fresh of mediums and came out in 11th place behind Hulkenberg.
The 20th tour saw Verstappen’s lead at 2.753 seconds over Norris with Alonso third, Perez fourth as Russell pitted from fifth for a fresh set of mediums and emerged in 11th behind his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton.
A lap later, Perez stopped in an attempt to cover the two Silver Arrows for his set of medium rubber and the Mexican slotted in tenth between the pairing.
Perez remained on the tail of Hamilton in the battle for a net-fourth on lap 22 and on the beginning of the next lap with DRS assistance Perez made a move on the outside into turn one, but the Briton covered the RB19 and then on the rundown to turn four, Perez made the move on the Mercedes and jumped into seventh place.
On the 25th tour, Verstappen’s gap in-front was 3.667 seconds over Norris with Alonso third, Sainz fourth, Gasly fifth, Tsunoda sixth and Perez seventh.
Lap 26 saw Alonso pit from third for a set of medium rubber and came out in sixth place behind Tsunoda.
A tour later Sainz stopped from third for a fresh set of mediums and emerged in ninth place behind Ocon.
Lap 28 saw race leader Verstappen and second-placed Norris both pit for mediums and came out clear of the pack.
On lap 29 the fight of the two Mercedes began as Russell had a look at team-mate Hamilton for sixth place meanwhile Sainz breezed his way ahead of Alpine’s Ocon before reaching turn one to take eighth.
The 31st tour saw Verstappen’s lead increased to 5.394 seconds over second-placed Norris with Alonso a further 6.177 seconds behind in third, Perez fourth, Stroll fifth and the Mercedes pairing of Hamilton and Russell sixth and seventh respectively.
A lap later, Russell drew ever closer to Hamilton, but the latter managed to have enough of a gap to keep his team-mate behind meanwhile Sainz was closing in on the pair of them.
Lap 35 saw Sainz right behind the Mercedes of Russell and with DRS assistance got into the slipstream and made the move on the inside before turn one to overtake the F1 W14 for seventh place.
A tour later, Sainz was getting closer to the second Silver Arrow of Hamilton in the battle for sixth meanwhile behind them, Tsunoda breezed ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas well before turn four to grab tenth.
Lap 37, Sainz made a move around the outside of Hamilton on the rundown into turn four to snatch sixth place from the Briton.
On the 40th tour, Verstappen took the fastest lap from Norris with his lead sitting at 5.104 seconds over the McLaren driver, with Alonso a further 13.175 seconds off in third, Perez fourth and Stroll rounding out the top five whilst Bottas was forced to retire from tenth.
Lap 42 saw Gasly starting to close in on Russell for eighth. The gap was down to 1.2 seconds, and Gasly’s medium tyres were seven laps fresher than Russell’s. And Russell was told to lift and coast to cool his engine.
The 43rd lap saw with DRS assistance, Gasly passed Russell on the main-straight before reaching turn one to take eighth from the Briton.
Russell stopped from ninth for a set of softs and emerged in 11th place behind Ocon.
Meanwhile Perez, Hamilton and Gasly also pitted a tour later as the trio all came out in seventh, ninth and tenth respectively.
A lap later, Alonso reacted to the Mexican by stopping as Perez overtook Tsunoda into turn one for sixth and the Spaniard had the Red Bull well covered as he emerged from the pit-lane meanwhile Hamilton moved in-front of Ocon to take eighth.
The order on lap 50 saw Verstappen 6.995 seconds clear of Norris with Stroll third, Sainz fourth, Alonso fifth and Perez sixth as Gasly flew past Hamilton into turn one for seventh place.
Sainz pitted from fourth on lap 52 for a set of the C4 red side-walled softs and came out in sixth behind Tsunoda.
Stroll pitted a tour later for a set of softs and emerged behind Tsunoda in sixth and in-front of Sainz.
On lap 56 in the battle for the final podium place, Perez was much closer to Alonso’s AMR23 and the Spaniard managed to keep the Red Bull at bay into both turns one and four.
A tour later Verstappen pitted from the lead for a set of softs as Norris remained on track and out in-front.
On lap 58, Mercedes told Russell to retire the car with higher worsening power-unit temperature.
Norris pitted from the lead on lap 60 for a set of softs to come out back behind Verstappen as Perez had a look at Alonso at both into turns one and four again and the Spaniard was clever to keep the Red Bull behind.
With ten tours remaining Verstappen held a 12.032 second gap over Norris with Alonso third, Perez right on the Aston Martin’s tail in fourth, Stroll fifth as Sainz completed the top six runners.
On lap 65, Norris was eating into Verstappen’s lead now, with the gap down to 8.520 seconds, meanwhile Perez was still in DRS range in the battle for the final podium position with Alonso.
On the penultimate tour, Perez was much more closer to Alonso in the fight for third and with DRS into turn one, the former made the move to take the position and on the rundown into turn four Alonso attempted to take the place back, but the Red Bull managed to keep the double world champion behind.
Verstappen crossed the line to clinch his 17th victory of the season at the Brazil GP and 8.277 seconds clear of Norris as Alonso reclaimed the final podium place on the rundown into turn four and just held onto the position from the Mexican by a very slim 0.053 seconds as they reached the chequered flag.
The second AMR23 of Stroll completed the top five and ahead of Sainz who ended the race sixth after managing a downshift problem and Gasly who placed seventh in the order.
Hamilton settled for eighth and in-front of Tsunoda and Ocon who rounded out the top ten.
Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant finished the Sao Paulo Grand Prix outside the top 10 in 11th place and ahead of Hulkenberg who took 12th and Ricciardo and Piastri who were the final runners.
2023 Las Vegas GP Preview – The Situation
Formula 1 makes its longly awaited return this weekend to Las Vegas in what promises to be one of the most exciting sporting event of the year.
After months of wondering what it would be like to see the pinnacle of motorsport racing on the famous “Las Vegas Strip”, the wait is almost over.
The sport returns to Las Vegas for the first time since the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, with an all-new street circuit twisting through some of the city’s famous landmarks, which is set to provide spectacular scenes under the bright lights.
Three-time world champion Max Verstappen will be looking to score his 53rd-career victory to tie with four-time world champion Sebastian to third on the all-time winners list, but the Red Bull driver admitted there are several unknowns heading into the penultimate round of the year.
Along with the all-new track, the expected low evening temperatures in which qualifying, and the Grand Prix will take place are set to create unpredictability.
Behind Verstappen, his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez is on the verge of securing the Milton Keynes based-outfit’s first ever one-two in the World Driver’s Championship to accompany their Constructor’s title.
Meanwhile, Mercedes are looking to protect their 20-point lead over nearest rival Ferrari as they seek to claim a major prize-money boost that will be provided by holding onto second place in the World Constructors Standings.
Max Verstappen heads to Las Vegas as a newly-crowned three-time World Driver’s Champion, sitting on top with 524 points and a 266-point lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who is second on 258 points whilst Lewis Hamilton is a further 298 behind the Dutchman in third on 226 points.
Oracle Red Bull Racing comes to Las Vegas as World Constructors Champions, sitting in P1 with 782 points and a 400-point advantage over nearest rivals Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team who are second on 382 points whilst Scuderia Ferrari are third and a further 420 behind the Milton Keynes based-outfit on 362 points.
Click here for the 2023 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings
The Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023 weekend begins Friday November 17 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday November 18 and the 50 lap Race Sunday November 19.
1 thought on “#F1 @Heineken Silver #LasVegasGP 2023 Preview. #Formula1”
Comments are closed.