Las Vegas Grand Prix Track: Map, Layout, & What Teams Can Expect From the Freezing Sin City Strip

The most awaited race of the year is up next. After an enthralling Brazilian Grand Prix that was filled with action, overtakes, crashes, red flags, and a podium decided by meters, F1 looks forward to the Sin City that’s going to host an F1 race after 4 decades. The Las Vegas GP is upon us as all the teams and drivers prepare for the new track. Let’s have a look at what the new track is going to be like, its layout, and what the teams are saying about it. 

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was last held in 1982 when the parking lot at Caesar’s Palace was converted into a Grand Prix track. With the rise of the popularity of F1 in the US, the stakeholders decided to bring Las Vegas back to the F1 calendar. However, this time, a new layout passes through most of the major attractions of Sin City. Let’s have a look at what the newly built Las Vegas Grand Prix track layout is going to look like. How the street circuit was set around Sin City and what are its characteristics? 

“Pig lying upside down”: Las Vegas Grand Prix Track Layout

The Las Vegas Strip Street Circuit was designed by none other than Tilke GmBH, the company founded by the legendary circuit designer Hermann Tilke. It was Carsten Tilke [Hermann Tilke’s son] who was believed to be the mastermind behind the design. The track itself is 6.2 kilometers long and has 17 turns. This makes the Las Vegas circuit one of the longest F1 tracks on the current calendar. 

Christian Horner in a recent reel uploaded by Red Bull’s Instagram page advised that the Las Vegas GP circuit layout looks like a “pig lying upside down.” And Horner isn’t wrong. That’s exactly what the circuit looks like. But there’s so much more to the circuit than just the pig-like shape. The Las Vegas circuit circles around the most glamorous part of Sin City. 

The race starts near the Harbour Island Apartment, which is located on the outside of Turn 1. F1 has bought land near the start and finish, straight to set up their paddock and pit lane. Three medium-speed corners around the Rochelle Avenue Intersection are followed by a straight on the Koval Lane. This then leads to a semi-circumference around the MSG sphere and leads to the Palazzo and the Venetian. 

A sharp left turn leads us to the long back straight where cars will touch 212 mph. The straight itself is the Las Vegas strip, which consists of some of the most recognizable buildings, like the Caesars Palace, Bellagio Fountains, The Cosmopolitan, Planet Hollywood, and more. The Strip leads to another sharp left turn, which is followed by another straight that leads to the start-finish line.

Read More: What Were the Crippling Issues That Made F1 Withdraw From Las Vegas in the ’80s? Could They Come Back Haunting?

However, the amazing architecture around the circuit isn’t what the fans will be looking at, but the cars. So what can the fans expect in terms of racing at the Las Vegas Strip Street Circuit?

What can the fans expect from the 2023 Las Vegas GP?

The majority of the Las Vegas Circuit comprises long straights, with the drivers spending a huge amount of time on full throttle. The circuit is somewhat similar to Monza in that sense, and that gives us a ballpark of what the performance of the teams is going to be like. Red Bull, Ferrari, and Williams will be considerably strong with their straight-line advantage, whereas Mercedes and McLaren might struggle. Also, Las Vegas being 600m above sea level might play a role in the setup and package that will be brought to the track.

However, since it’s going to be a night race, the weather predictions expect the temperature to drop down to as low as 5 degrees Celsius. With such a low track temperature, it’ll be very difficult for the cars to generate temperature into the tires and might take multiple warm-up laps before going for a flying lap. This factor might be in Ferrari’s favour who have struggled with tire degradation all year. The higher degradation might be what helps Ferrari get the tires in the operating window quicker than anyone else.

However, since it’s the maiden Grand Prix at this circuit, there are still many unknowns and what-ifs. Let’s see what the teams and drivers are saying about the Las Vegas GP.

What are the teams and drivers saying about the Las Vegas GP?

Las Vegas will be Logan Sargeant’s third home race for the year. Speaking on F1TV live after the Brazilian GP, Sargeant explained how the cooler temperatures at the Las Vegas GP will suit their car better. Williams is a monster in a straight line and might even come out as the dark horse. Alex Albon also seemed to have a positive lookout for the weekend.

As per Motorsport, Alex Albon said, “In terms of racing, there’s going to be a lot of overtakes, because at least from what I drove, there’s a lot of opportunities, a lot of places you can overtake. The straights are absolutely massive. Especially coming out of the last corner into Turn 1.”

Max Verstappen, when asked about what he expects from the Las Vegas GP said, “First of all, I think we are there more for the show than the racing itself if you look at the layout of the track. But you know, I’m actually not that into it. I’m more like, I’ll go there and do my thing and be gone again.”

When Lando Norris was asked about whether McLaren is going to be competitive in Las Vegas, the Brit advised that he had no idea but added that they won’t be as competitive as they were in Brazil. Mercedes Team Principal was noticeably frustrated at the Brazil GP result for his team and advised that the team needs to understand and figure out what went wrong so that they’re competitive at the Las Vegas GP.

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“The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of EssentiallySports.”