Las Vegas, penultimate round of the 2023 Formula 1 season. Third and final round in the United States but perhaps the most glossy and anticipated one for the novelty it represents.
On the city track located in Nevada, Pirelli will bring the following compounds:
- Pirelli PZero White Hard C3
- Pirelli PZero Yellow Medium C4
- Pirelli PZero Red Soft C5
This is the softest possible choice by the Italian company, the sole supplier of Formula 1 tyres. We remind you that the 2023 range made by Pirelli ranges from C0, the hardest compound, to C5, the softest. This is due to the fact that very low temperatures are expected in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas GP: the tires on the track
- During the weekend of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the C3 compound will be used as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. Pirelli will bring its selection of the softest compounds in the range to Nevada.
- For the first time in a Grand Prix the sessions will take place over two days. The times will be different from the usual ones for night appointments. The first free practices will be on Thursday at 8.30pm while FP2 is scheduled from midnight to 1am on Friday. On the same day, FP3 will be held at 8.30pm and finally qualifying will take place from midnight to 1am on Saturday 18 November. The race will be Saturday evening, at 10pm.
- The new Las Vegas circuit is made up of 17 corners and 3 straights with 2 DRS zones. The length of the layout is 6.12 kilometers and the estimated maximum speed is 342 km/h. The finish line is at the corner of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane and the course extends from S. Las Vegas Boulevard to Sands Avenue. The expected laps for the race are 50.
- An opening ceremony is scheduled for the return of Formula 1 to Las Vegas on Wednesday starting at 7.30pm. Among the artists who will perform are Steve Aoki, Thirty Seconds to Mars, will.i.am and Cirque du Soleil.
- Before choosing the final layout of the street circuit, more than 30 variants were designed. Construction of the main structures, including the Formula 1 logo-shaped pit building, pit lane and paddock took just over a year.
- The top car competition took place in Las Vegas, as the last round of the 1981 and 1982 seasons, two events called Caesars Palace Grand Prix. On both occasions, the race decided that year’s world champion: in 1981 Alan Jones won the Grand Prix in a Williams but the title went to Nelson Piquet (Brabham). The following year Michele Alboreto won the race with Tyrrell while Keke Rosberg won the Drivers’ championship, with Ferrari champion of the Constructors’ Championship.
- The Las Vegas Strip Circuit will pass near The Sphere, a spherical-shaped building 110 meters high and completely covered with 1.2 million LED panels. Inside the structure, the largest of its kind in the world, there is a 15,000 m screen2 with a resolution of 16k. Costing 2.3 billion dollars, The Sphere was inaugurated at the beginning of October with a U2 concert. Over the weekend, it will light up the circuit with a reproduction of a Pirelli P Zero Elect tyre, alternating with the company’s long P logo. The roof of the new building which will house the garages and the Paddock Club will also have personalized animation by Pirelli.
- The drivers who will stand on the Grand Prix podium will wear a special edition of the Pirelli Podium Caps, with embroidery created for the occasion in gold. On the side of the cap there will be the stars and stripes flag, in honor of the nation hosting the race, and on the back the writing “Las Vegas 2023”. A variation of this special edition of the Podium Cap is available to the public at all authorized retailers.
Las Vegas GP: Mario Isola’s comment
Mario Isola, head of motorsport at Pirelli, commented on the penultimate event of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship as follows: “F1 returns to the United States for the third time this season after the events in Miami and Austin. And it does so with one of the Grand The most anticipated prizes of the year, that of Las Vegas, where the top automotive competition has not been held since 1982. It will be a fascinating Grand Prix because it will take place in a city that makes entertainment its main feature and all of us who work in this sport we want to offer viewers something unique and worthy of its fame.”
“Both for the teams and for us, it will also be a particular technical challenge that we will face without any point of reference, with the exception of the simulations. In fact, no one has ever raced on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, a 6.12 kilometer long track – according to only at Spa-Francorchamps in this year’s world championship calendar – and characterized by three straights and 17 curves. The asphalt will be a mix between the city road surface, particularly on the Strip, and parts totally resurfaced for the occasion, thus adding a further unknown. It should also be kept in mind that there will be no side races to the Grand Prix and that the track will be reopened to road traffic for a good part of the day, which should not allow the usual level of rubber on the asphalt and the consequent improvement in grip conditions”.
“We expect cars with a rather low level of aerodynamic load, similar to those used on tracks like Baku or, even more likely, Monza: top speed will in fact be a very important aspect to take into consideration to be competitive. Furthermore, all the sessions will take place at night, with air and asphalt temperatures that are decidedly unusual for a race weekend, more similar to those encountered when the early season tests took place in Europe. The long straight runs will make it even more the warming up phase of the tires in qualifying is more complicated but also the maintenance of an adequate temperature in the race, re-proposing – in a probably more exasperated way – a condition that usually occurs in Baku”.
“All this considered, for Las Vegas we chose the softest trio of compounds among those available: C3, C4 and C5 should guarantee a good level of grip. The tire pressure requirements indicate a minimum of 27 psi for the axle front and 24.5 psi for the rear. These are values whose definition is due both to the low temperatures expected during the sessions and to the configuration of the track. It should be kept in mind, in fact, that the cold reduces the difference between the pressure of the tires and the car stationary and stabilized, when the car runs on the track: when moving, therefore, the pressure will increase less than on other circuits due to the low temperatures of the asphalt. When fully operational, therefore, we estimate that the pressure on the track remains lower than the values recorded on other tracks that are particularly demanding on the tires such as, for example, Baku itself”.
“All the ingredients are there for an extraordinary event, albeit full of unknowns and possible surprises. Remembering the great success of Elvis Presley, then… Long live Las Vegas!”.
Minimum pressures at the start (slick tyres)
Front: 27.0 psi
Rear: 24.7 psi
Maximum camber
Front: -3.00°
Rear: -1.75°
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