Grand Prix 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Howdy y'all, the next race will be in the entertainment capital of the world, sin city, city that never sleeps, brightest city in the world. Las Vegas Nevada

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this is a realisation of the sports nearly 50 yr dream to get F1 on the Las Vegas strip, as those who followed the sport for a while will know that this isnt the 1st time we have been in Las Vegas as we had finales to the 1981 & 1982 that are remembered for all the wrong reasons. the ignominious Caesars Palace GP with the racetrack in the car park of the hotel. so bad it pops up in every list of the worst 5 circuits for F1 to race on. although whether this is a 1 off or fulfils its 10 yr contract remains to be scene because from the bits ive seen the locals aren't happen with the infrastructure needed for the race to take place

i think we are all concerned that this race will become where the on track become hugely overshadowed by what happens off track, especially with an opening ceremony, taking place on Wednesday evening, also this will be the first world championship race to be held on a Saturday for 38 years, since the 1985 South African GP at Kyalami. & alot has been made of racing on a Saturday although due to time differences unless your watching on the West coast & central America or Mexico. its business as usual & the race in the uk is no different to the Japanese gp starting at 6am on a sunday. although like buses you wait 38 years for a saturday race & 3 of the next 4 come along

i think the times are a bit weird not sure why Qualifying starting at the ridiculous local time of midnight, doesnt help the reputation that F1 is there for the fans, as i cant imagine going to a sporting event that finishes at after 1.30am. i think im right that the qualifying & the race will take place on the same day for the 1st time since japan 2005

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i like the track on paper ive driven it quite a few times on the F1 2023 game. its fast its flowing, yes its going to pass all the major Landmarks, but its also got a huge back straight potentially the 2nd biggest F1 has seen 1.9km then a chicane followed by 800m straight to the 1st corner, but so many circuits look good on paper & fail in reality. it even has a nod to the Caesars palace circuit i mentioned earlier. the track conditions are appartantly a big worry to all the teams because it weird turn of events in 6 weeks we could have 1 of the hottest F1 races in Qatar & now in Las Vegas they are concerned it could be coldest race since Canada in 1978. where they are expecting temperatures of 6c, which teams thing will make tyre warm up a nightmare & have issues with cold graining

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im looking forward to see Verstappen delaying the podium to stick his puffer coat on, if its anything like the 1978 Canadian GP podium
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i guess the only way to end this is VIVA LAS VEGAS & what stays Vegas wont be staying in Vegas
 

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But putting that aside we have a tremendous number of corporate partners out here, plus lots of fans and lots of attention. It’s an example of Liberty taking the sport to another level, so I hope we can get the show back on the road.”
 
a strange Q1, with the track evolution, tyres holding on & fear of red flags. it was like a wet session with just teams pounding around. didn't see both mclarens out in Q1 that is a huge shock
 
no surprise for the pole for me, leclerc or ferrari in the cold track temperatures were always going to be favourites for me. i still think they are favourites in the race as they wont get the tyre degradation that has dogged the ferrari's

5th & 6th on the grid thats got to be Williams best qualifying for years & brilliant to see Sargeant up in 6th after such a tough rookie season.
 
a strange Q1, with the track evolution, tyres holding on & fear of red flags. it was like a wet session with just teams pounding around. didn't see both mclarens out in Q1 that is a huge shock
I was watching the McLarens through the session, and I just couldn't understand why they weren't getting new tyres with ~5 minutes to go... They could see the other cars who had were going faster.

That being said, I can't understand how:
1. Stroll was allowed to keep his fastest lap, despite being set going through waved yellows
2. Perez wasn't penalizing for obstruction.
 
I was watching the McLarens through the session, and I just couldn't understand why they weren't getting new tyres with ~5 minutes to go... They could see the other cars who had were going faster.
im unsure whether it too with similar to perez. if they used to many soft tyres during practice. as horner said reason why perez pitted early was he only had 3 soft tyres for the session

so they i guess we're trying to get through on 1 per session
 
Regardless of how the racing goes, it means nothing. The most important thing is that this event is the jewel in the crown for teams and their sponsors. They've been looking forward to this all year.

In fact they should just drop the inconvenient racing element and host a massive sponsors party.
 
Regardless of how the racing goes, it means nothing. The most important thing is that this event is the jewel in the crown for teams and their sponsors. They've been looking forward to this all year.

In fact they should just drop the inconvenient racing element and host a massive sponsors party.
theyve got to pay the bills somehow
 
The track is going to through curve balls in tyre management. I think this grid is mixed up by the cars who can get heat in the tyres quickly but will wear them down quickly so I expect Williams and Alfs to drop back

I think George is going for turn 1 dive bomb
 
dont know why i do this to myself :coffee:

also massive hit for norris. many cars are seemingly struggling for rear grip on those C4 & C3 tyres. i think it is what caused the norris crash. just lost back end
 
for me its frustrating because lap 23/24 i was thinking Leclerc had this in the bag. he had better tyres than Verstappen & Perez had to stop again but then Verstappen made that a impatient move, collides with Russell. brings out a safety car. that he benefits from himself & sort of ruins Leclerc's race

because for me that's the irony of this race, if Verstappen is patient into turn 12 & does the usual thing of blasting past him on the strip, he likely comes home 2nd. but he makes the stupid move on Russell in a part of the circuit that you can just about get 1 car through normally, as like turn 8 in Baku any overtake at corner will be contact, because your either forcing yourself through & getting contact. or your running out opponent out of room & putting him into the wall
 
Dull, lifeless track that, apart from a few aerial shots could have been anywhere in the world. It probably explains why the ever wonderful Sky commentary team had to mention Las Vegas at least once a lap.

Average race that at least had a change of lead.

That shite is on the calendar for another 10 years. Oh the joy.

On the plus side it was fantastic seeing all of the famous faces in the pits. That made the weekend for me. I rated which team I'm going to spend a lot of money for merch on by the quality of their garage guests.

When I saw Justin Bieber waving the checkered flag my heart skipped a beat
 
I don’t get street circuits in F1… you go to somewhere that is instantly recognisable, and then run a race at a circuit lined with concrete barriers, to the extent that the race could be anywhere in the world.

Baku has character, but frankly, the Las Vegas race could have been mistaken for Jakku, Singapore,or others…. If you’re going to have a destination GP, run it during the day, so the destination makes sense! Could you imagine running Monaco in the dark?
 
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