Preview Las Vegas GP | Who will brave the cold and the new tarmac?
General
- Ludo van Denderen
This Grand Prix has been hyped since its announcement over a year ago: the race through the streets of Las Vegas. Formula 1 has been doing everything in its power to hype up the Las Vegas GP for months. Next week, it will become clear whether the expectations manage to match reality. At least on paper, technically, it will not be a difficult lap along the Strip and its surroundings, where very high speeds will be achieved.
The track through the streets of the gambling city is 6.1 kilometres long; only Spa and Jeddah are longer. But with seventeen mostly flowing corners, it will be a very fast lap. Drivers are expected to take around 1:30 minutes (in dry conditions) over a lap of Las Vegas. With a circuit with large sections completed at full throttle, the car with the most powerful power unit is the favourite on paper. No one will likely argue against Red Bull having the best power unit.
At Monza and in Jeddah, Red Bull Racing managed to dominate. Normally, the team - especially with Max Verstappen - would do the same in Las Vegas. On the other hand, the RB19 has struggled on street circuits throughout the season. The ride height of the car there is usually slightly higher, somewhat neutralising its floor advantage over the competition.
New asphalt and the expected cold
The RB19 also struggles to be efficient on bumpy road surfaces. As Formula 1 is only hosting the street circuit for the first time, the teams do not yet know exactly what the new asphalt - on which normal traffic drives every day until two hours before the sessions - is like. So, it will be a wait-and-see for Red Bull and everyone.
An additional obstacle this coming weekend is undoubtedly going to be the cold. Initial reports are that rain could fall, but either way, it certainly won't be warm in the evening hours. With a temperature of seven to ten degrees Celsius, it will be a hell of a job for the drivers to quickly get the tyres in the right window. The team that knows how to best deal with this will undoubtedly benefit greatly.
What will happen to Mercedes in Las Vegas?
One of the main stories of the previous Grand Prix in Brazil was the demise of Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell's team had one of the worst weekends in the team's history, in which even Alpine was too fast for the Germans. Harsh words have since fallen within the team, as surely this had to be a one-off off day. Whether it is is yet to be seen.
Another disappointing result could cause Hamilton to definitely drop out of the battle for second place in the drivers' championship. Sergio Perez can secure a result unique to Red Bull Racing in Las Vegas: never before has Red Bull finished first and second in the drivers' title race.
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