Hopeful Sainz Thinks Las Vegas Strip Circuit Should Suit Ferrari 'More Than Recent Tracks'

Friday, 17 November 2023 at 05:00

Scuderia Ferrari F1 driver Carlos Sainz confirmed that the Las Vegas Strip Circuit for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix could suit his Ferrari car.

Ferrari's performance engineer Jock Clear revealed a few days ago his team was quite confident in Las Vegas track Ferrari cars because of the lower downforce characteristics.

Carlos Sainz confirmed the words of the performance engineer during the press conference ahead of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix when he told the media:

"[We have] better hope than recently, mainly because the track looks probably a bit more suited to us than recent tracks."

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Ferrari became the only team that won a race besides Red Bull Racing this season after Carlos Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix. Interestingly, many characteristics of the circuit in Singapore are quite similar to the one in Las Vegas.

Carlos Sainz compared the Las Vegas Strip Circuit to Singapore and Monza, two circuits where Ferrari performed best this season.

"Long straights like in Monza and tight corners like in Monza or Singapore. Maybe there’s the combinations of Turn 1 and Turn 2 where we will not be very quick, but then the rest of the track our cars should be better suited now than recent events and hopefully that gives us a better opportunity."

Even though ex-formula one driver Pedro De La Rosa defined the Las Vegas Strip Circuit as easy for F1 drivers, Sainz revealed there are a few tricky parts.

"I think there’s a very long combined braking, I think it’s Turn 6 and 7 and that, in the simulator, was actually quite tricky to get right. It’s obviously going to be about the long straights the big braking zones, being confident, getting close to walls also on the exit of the corners."

As with all the street circuits in the calendar, Las Vegas will require a lot of confidence from the driver because there is no place for mistakes when driving 300km/h (186 mph)between the tight walls. Sainz concluded:

"Apart from that it’s just getting confidence with a low-downforce car. On such long straights with heavy braking, it’s about getting comfortable and it’s going to be the key."