Ferrari is optimistic about its prospects for this week’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, even if it admits that it's still dealing with a “tricky” SF-23.
Over four decades after its last – and unsuccessful – visit de Las Vegas, F1 is setting up shop once again in the City of Lights.
But rather than a barren, make-shift track laid out in the vast concrete parking lot of the Caesar’s Palace Hotel, the sport has mapped out a proper street circuit, a 6.2km track that will carry drivers down a portion of Vegas’ neon-lit iconic Strip.
And for good measure, F1 teams will be housed within a dedicated pit and paddock complex designed for their needs and comfort.
Las Vegas will be the sixth street circuit visited by F1 this season, and one where Ferrari believes it will perform well, having previously led the field in Baku, where Charles Leclerc qualified on pole, and especially in the streets of Singapore last September, when Carlos Sainz inflicted to Red Bull its only defeat – so far – of the season.
Ferrari senior performance engineer Jock Clear reckons that teams will be operating in a low downforce environment in Las Vegas which, in theory, is the Scuderia’s preferred setting.
"Las Vegas is going to be a good one," Clear told the media in Brazil.
"All our indications are that it is going to be a low downforce circuit, and as such, we are confident that we can be competitive there, but [we still have] a tricky car.
"Let's not beat around the bush, it comes in and out of the window quite quickly, and the struggle for us has been to understand why that is.”
©Ferrari
Clear suggests that the SF-23’s Achilles Heel – its inconsistency – lies deep under the hood, and ironing out that defect for 2024 has been a major priority for Ferrari’s engineers back at Maranello.
"I think we understand that most of it might be in the DNA of the car, so for next year, we are focusing on making it a much more benign car, one that doesn't have such a narrow operating window,” added Clear.
The Briton revealed that the Scuderia’s weakness is precisely the strength of Red Bull’s dominant RB19.
"In a race, you can't operate in a narrow window because the race is long, temperatures change, the tyres, and you need a bit of a broader operating window to have a really good race,” he explained.
"That is where Red Bull's strength is - their operating window is very wide."
©Ferrari
The jury is obviously still out on whether this week’s extravaganza in Sin City will prove successful for F1.
Teams and drivers alike are predicting a challenging weekend, with sessions taking place at night amid single-digit Celsius temperatures that will inevitably impact tyre efficiency.
“Vegas will be difficult but I think everybody is anticipating that it will be difficult,” commented Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur.
“It will be more than a night race. It could be... I don't know what… Conditions will be very, very cold but it's a new track with a kind of special layout.
“We have to take it as an opportunity to come back at Mercedes [in the Constructors' Championship].”
Like Clear, Vasseur believes that Ferrari will roll into Vegas with strong prospects.
“We have to trust them [F1],” the Frenchman added. “If you have a look at Miami last year, it went pretty well, at least on the racing side.
“The track was well prepared and it will be the same with Vegas.”
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