Mercedes Key Figure Gives Depressing Update as Las Vegas GP Catches Lewis Hamilton & Co. Unaware

As the action winds down and the season’s accolades are over, we head into the Las Vegas GP for an extravagant affair bustling with Sin City’s finest hotels, restaurants and of course, celebrities from all over the world coming to Nevada to watch the big Saturday night event. But the Las Vegas GP hasn’t just come at an enormous financial cost alone.

The amount of obstacles that lay in the way of the event organisers has led to some controversial decisions that have left the locals as well as tourists fuming, but the biggest uncertainty is being faced by the teams and their engineers. What could be more of a cause for concern than the workers’ strike and privacy concerns erupting in the organiser’s face?

Mercedes believes it’s going to be a rocky road to the Las Vegas GP

According to the latest weather predictions, it could get as cold as 6°C (43°F) when the light goes out at the Vegas Strip circuit. This could prove not only chaotic for the race but also because of the crowd density at a street circuit. The tyres are going to be cold, the brakes won’t work as well either, and to top it all off, the grid is going in blind to the first race at the circuit.

Before heading into the Las Vegas GP weekend, Mercedes released a video on their YouTube channel which covered how the team has been preparing for Sin City, along with the challenges they might face. This is when Mercedes’ head of trackside performance, Riccardo Musconi, shared the grim reality that the teams can expect to battle during the weekend.

“Vegas we believe is going to be quite a high-speed track so the wing level is going to be something akin to Spa or Monza. The first key factor in Vegas is going to be the cold temperatures, getting the tyres to work!” Musconi expressed his concerns with the climate, “This problem has got two factors. We are expecting temperatures to be in the single digits at this time of the year, due to the fact that we’re going to be racing at night.”

READ MORE: “Could Be Like Driving on Ice”: Christian Horner Highlights Bittersweet Nature of Las Vegas GP

It’s no secret that Sin City gets extremely cold this time of the year, but even if the races were to be held in the daytime, the track temperatures are not that far off from being the coldest ever for a Grand Prix. With such low temperatures, optimum tyre management will be essential, albeit difficult. But it’s not just the climate that’s bugging the teams.

The tarmac uncertainty adds pressure to Lewis Hamilton and Co.’s Sin City campaign

Riccardo Musconi went on to reflect on the fact that the tarmac being freshly laid could add an element of unpredictability because it has lower traction, and on top of that, the cold conditions make it difficult to accurately simulate the correct set-up configuration.

Musconi elaborated on the issues that arise with a freshly laid circuit. Even though it’s the only way F1 cars can run and safely reach speeds above 200 mph, the teams don’t know what kind of inputs the surface requires. He added, “The second thing is the surface, it’s going to be a brand new surface. We do not know exactly at this point in time what the aggregate type will be. Nobody will know until we turn up in Vegas and start driving around. So I think this will be the key element of this weekend.”

Although the winter testing temperatures often fall into the single digits, what adds another layer of trouble for teams is the 1.9 km long straight, which will affect the way drivers approach the chicane at the end. Such a long straight would usually end up cooling the tyres too much and with the combined low temperatures, it might be the perfect recipe for disaster that could befall Lewis Hamilton and the other drivers.

WATCH THIS STORY: Rich History of F1 races in Las Vegas Throughout the Years

However, it isn’t just Mercedes who is worried about the track conditions on Saturday night. Both Williams and Alpine’s engineers have also shared similar concerns regarding the Las Vegas GP, but only time will tell if it makes for a clean race or if things take a chaotic turn!