F1 2023 Las Vegas GP Pre-Race Thread

I’m excited. Heading out there in a few hours. The sphere tonight, Peter Luger tomorrow night and race weekend Thursday. (Luckily, I’m a part time resident and my condo is right across I-15 so I won’t have to worry too much about traffic)

 

That looks spacious compared to Monza. I’m 5’9” and my legs hit the seat in front in me. lol.

 

I'm another foot and change. And my back went on the way there. Talk about bad timing...

I felt like I was handicapped.

 

Brutal!!

 

So you blend right in?

 

How can this be avoided if you can gamble in the restrooms!

 

like a sore thumb

 

Damn….. I hate that it’s more about celebs and such than the racing anymore. But, the track is looking proper! Hope it’s a good race, eff all the entertainers and celebs who couldn’t tell a push rod from…….well…..you know.

 

View attachment 3606796


As a Michel Vaillant fan I always dreamed of F1 racing on the Champs Elysees with the Eiffel Tower in the distant background. Las Vegas is the closest we will ever get to that.

 

I consider this year at Las Vegas as an opening ceremony to unveal a new circuit. In this context, media attention, celebrites and razzmatazz are needed to really mark the occasion. This is the American way of doing thing, someting engrained in the culture, as already shown in Miami . Some folks will gringe at this display of exuberance, but one can hardly sneer at what has been realised in one year at Las Vegas, and the commitment shown by Liberty. So, I am not so critical; F1 may gain out of this in the long term.

 

Hey. I don't have a dog in this fight but this guy raises some good points...

Why Formula One’s Las Vegas Gamble Could Go Bust


Formula One wrongly assumed hosting a grand prix along the Las Vegas Strip gave it carte blanche to charge insane prices and snub U.S. TV viewers.


...The debacle seems like an entirely predictable one. Formula One and the Vegas hotels somehow thought that amid worldwide problems with inflation, 100,000 or so race fans would be willing to shell out $10,000 or so each (including flights, hotel, and tickets) to spend a weekend at a grand prix — a ridiculous proposition if there ever were one. They appear to be learning their lesson the hard way.


https://thefederalist.com/2023/11/14/why-formula-ones-las-vegas-gamble-could-go-bust/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-formula-ones-las-vegas-gamble-could-go-bust&utm_term=2023-11-14

 

It nearly happened decades ago but there were two problems; the then president, socialist Francois Mitterrand, said on live TV that he liked F1 - he helped finance the renewal of Magny Cours as his friend Guy Ligier was based there- but he disagreeed with F1 cars racing in the midst of the historic monuments around the Champs Elysees and the place de la Concorde...and then there was the fact that the ground there is...ancient paving stones.

But yes now you get to see them race near the Vegas plastic replica Eiffel tower thingie....oh well.

 

No shortage of plastic replicas in LV.

 

Back in the nineties there was a F1 racing game for the PC simply called Grand Prix. Together with a friend of mine I recreated the F1 track for GP4 from the Michel Vaillant comic book where they race in Paris. It was fun adding all the buildings like the Arc de Triomphe, the Obelisk etc. Oddly enough we also made a night version, which became quite popular in downloads. Now we'll have the night version in Las Vegas.

 

Or silicone...

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/albon-stars-should-align-for-williams-in-cold-las-vegas-f1-race/10546156/
Albon: "Stars should align" for Williams in cold Las Vegas F1 race
Alex Albon believes that the "stars should hopefully align" for his Williams Formula 1 team in the cold conditions anticipated for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Author Adam Cooper
Updated Nov 14, 2023, 11:59 AM


Albon expects that the lower temperatures and long straights should both play to the strengths of the FW45.

With qualifying commencing at midnight and the race itself starting at 10pm, ambient temperature is expected to be in the 5-10°C range.

"For Vegas, the stars should hopefully align," said Albon when asked about the race by Autosport.

"It's a track that should suit us in terms of its layout, but it should also suit us in terms of its temperature.

"So qualifying is going to be a real big interest I think for everyone to try to get the tyres to work in that temperature. That really won't be easy. But that suits us much more."

Albon conceded that the one drawback could be that some corners could promote front-locking, which has been a weakness of the Williams package this year.

He also noted that the team simulator hasn't necessarily given a complete picture of what the actual track surface is like.

"It's quite a simple circuit in terms of its layout, it's quite easy to learn," he said.


"The track is quite interesting, there's quite a few combined corners, which are not easy for front-locking, which is not great for our car, but that's fine.

"The one thing which will be interesting is the roughness and the bumps of the track, how well of a job have they done or not.

"And also, I think 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. So let's see, but it's okay. I actually didn't mind it."

However, Albon qualified his expectations for overtaking by indicating that the corners preceding the straights could be too slow.

"In its layout, the straights are absolutely massive," he said. "For example, Mexico, there should be more overtaking than there is.

"I mean, there is a massive straight. But the way that the Sector 3 is designed is not good for racing. And so it's so hard to stay close out of the last corner.

"There's one example of that in Vegas, where technically there should be an overtaking spot straight, but the corners before don't allow you to say that close.

"Everyone thinks it's the high-speed corners that it's harder to stay close. And it's not, it's really the low-speed corners that we struggle to stay close, because the front end in these cars is so difficult, especially when the cars are so heavy.

 

The assessment of TV viewing in North America and Europe is amazing. UTTERLY STUPID LOL. F1 - not about fans. When I hear Liberty mention 'fans' I want to puke. They are a joke. Interesting article. Sure it could be a failure or a bonkers success. We know soon.

 

I haven’t read the entire thread…has anyone yet predicted that the Red Flag Director…er, I mean Race Director will chicken out with the cold weather and opt for a rolling start?

 

... rolling start ? That's unheard of in F1. Beside a rolling start couldn't prevent a possible incident at the turn bottleneck.

 

At a 73 year old Q-tip, I long for the old F1 like at the Glen. I know the world moves on!

 

Brundle’s grid walk should be especially entertaining…..maybe the best part of the whole spectacle.

 

Nothing beats him asking Bernie in Sao Paulo about his tax evasion problems. That was hilarious and lacked any kind of class.

 

All the Hollywood stars will get a chance to promote their new movies now that the strike is over.

 

He did?! I want to see that.