Formula 1 teams set up shop in Las Vegas this week with the benefit of having an archive of data and knowledge collected during the sport’s first visit last year to Sin City’s 6.2km.
Set-ups were therefore geared from the outset towards low-downforce configurations in phase with the track’s abundance of straights, including the long 1.8km stretch of the Strip where cars flash past the famous hotels and casinos for which Vegas is known.
Top speed and the track’s precarious grip levels amid Vegas’ cool desert nights have been a major topic this weekend. Regarding maximum velocity, there has been much discussion about Red Bull’s choice not to produce a specific low downforce rear wing for its RB20.
Many were baffled by the bulls choice, calling it a major oversight on the part of the reigning world champions, with Helmut Marko suggesting after Thursday’s opening day of running that Max Verstappen was as good as a sitting duck on the straights versus his rivals.
But a glance at the speed trap readings from Friday’s qualifying tells a different story.
At 356.4 km/h, Williams rookie Franco Colapinto was comfortably the fastest man in a straight line in qualifying. While the young Argentine gets bragging rights for his achievement, it didn’t end well for Franco who racked up another hefty repair bill for his employer.
A more interesting fact regarding the numbers is poleman George Russell’s maximum velocity, the Mercedes driver breezing through the speed trap among the laggards at just 343.4 km/h.
For all of Max Verstappen’s complaints about his car’s inadequate rear wing and top speed deficit, the Dutchman was actually in the mix on average, and 5 km/h faster than Russell in a straight line qualifying trim!
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All this tells us that Mercedes’ downforce is unmatched in the corners. So, while Red Bull’s rear wing is certainly sub-optimal this weekend, its higher drag is of little help in the corners, at least compared to Mercedes.
Over at McLaren, the MCL38 is neither particularly fast on the straights nor efficient in the corners in Las Vegas, which does not bode well for Lando Norris holding on to his championship hopes. But the Briton likely knows that already.
On the strategy front, a one-stop race is clearly the quickest, according to Pirelli, with the Medium and Hard rubber the obvious choices.
While theoretically cut and dried in terms of strategy, tyre management will come into play as gaining will make itself felt, especially in the early stages, partly because, track conditions will again be reset as the circuit will have been reopened to city traffic after qualifying.
Assuming this one should be Russell’s to lose, it will be interesting to see how Lewis Hamilton manages to move forward from P10 on the grid.
Other than that, it’s likely celebrations will be in order in the Red Bull camp Saturday night.
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