Mercedes Shares Concerns In Relation To The Las Vegas Grand Prix

Friday, 10 November 2023 at 11:00

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Mercedes F1 Head of Trackside Performance Riccardo Musconi shared his concerns in relation to the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix in a race debrief video.

With 20 races of the 2023 season behind us, only two remain - the Las Vegas Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. While we know Abu Dhabi very well, there are a lot of questions surrounding the race in Las Vegas.

The race is scheduled to take place next week at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. The race is supposed to be one of the biggest shows in Formula One and it will take place at night.

One of the main worries, on the other hand, is how cold it will be in Vegas in the middle of the night at this time of the year. Riccardo Musconi said in the Mercedes Sao Paulo Race debrief video:

"Well, it’s a complete new ball game. The weather is going to play a big part in it. It is quite cold at this time of the year in Vegas, especially with the sessions happening around midnight, and the tyres we have the softest selection of tyres in Vegas. So that is adding an extra dimension to the problem."

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Silver Arrows already had big problems in Sao Paulo, which might also be a result of the low track temperature. But that was probably still warmer than what we might expect from Vegas.

"The truth is, every team to some degree, will venture into the unknown because we don’t have any previous data."

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit consists of almost only straights. There are few turns, and it is pretty similar to Monza, so it will be difficult for the drivers to keep the temperature in their tires.

Also, the circuit will be new for every single driver on the grid. Some of the drivers are already preparing by putting the laps in on driving simulators. Musconi concluded the team has to do more preparation compared to other tracks:

"So, the preparation work we are conducting at the factory will have to cover different dimensions, different aspects of it more than we usually do for other tracks."