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The Las Vegas Grand Prix – Information and schedule

The Las Vegas Grand Prix, the twenty-first of twenty-two races, is scheduled for the weekend of November 17-19. What is the schedule and where can you follow the race weekend?

Published

1 year ago

16. 11. 2023

Tomáš Myšák

F1, Velká cena Las Vegas — Zdroj: Garth Milan, Red Bull Content Pool

The Las Vegas Grand Prix, the twenty-first of twenty-two races, is scheduled for the weekend of November 17-19. What is the schedule and where can you follow the race weekend?

Returning after many years – the Las Vegas Grand Prix returns to the Formula 1 calendar for the first time since 1982. The queen of motorsport was here in 1981 and 1982, when only two races were held at the Caesars Palace circuit.

It’s the only time in F1 history that Las Vegas has ever been raced. The reason was simple, both races could be considered a complete failure from a historical point of view. And not just because the parking lot circuit was built for go-karts rather than Formula One.

In both cases, it was the season finale. Alan Jones, then driving for Williams, won the first time and in 1982 Michele Alboreto took his first F1 victory for the Tyrrell team. The world champions among drivers in those years were Nélson Piquet and Keke Rosberg.

Today, the city circuit is one of the longest on the F1 calendar and passes iconic sites such as Caesars Palace, the Bellagio and the Venetian. The average speed is on a par with Italy’s famous Monza.

Las Vegas Strip Circuit

The track itself is 6.201km long and consists of seventeen corners. The Las Vegas Strip Circuit, as the official name of the circuit goes, offers two DRS zones with two detection points. The first is located before Turn 2, the second after Turn 13.

The first DRS zone can then be found on the straight between turns 4 and 5, the second between turns 13 and 14. The Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled for 50 laps, during which the drivers will cover just over 310 kilometres.

But in addition to the detection points, you can also see the average speeds that the drivers reach in each corner, as well as the gear they usually shift into in that corner.

Source: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1

Las Vegas Grand Prix – Schedule

The Formula 1 cars will take to the track for the first time on Friday 17 November, at 05:30, as part of the first practice session (officially called Free Practice 1 – ed.). This will last the standard one hour.

After the sprint weekend in Brazil, Formula One is back to its traditional schedule with a full number of practice sessions. FP2 will therefore start at 09:00 on the same day. The third and final free practice session is then scheduled for Saturday 18 November, from 05:30 to 06:30.

At the stroke of 9:00 a.m., drivers and teams will have to qualify for the grand prix. The Las Vegas race will be special in that all five lights will go out on Saturday night. But nothing changes for the European spectators. Due to the time change, we will start on Sunday, specifically at 7am.

Las Vegas Grand Prix – stream

Live coverage of the F1 race can be watched on Sport 1 and Sport 2, where you can switch between Czech or Slovak audio. But there is also F1 TV, where you can switch between the on-board cameras of each driver.

But F1 TV also offers other features, such as livetiming and detailed telemetry. In addition to the full F1 programme, you can also watch press conferences or practice sessions and F2 or F3 qualifying.

Las Vegas Grand Prix – odds and predictions

The race in Las Vegas will be one big unknown. On paper, Max Verstappen will of course be the biggest favourite to win, but the odds of around 1.30 are not very tempting. The number two favourite according to the bookmakers is Lando Norris (8.50).

Realistically, however, it is very difficult to predict which team will have a performance advantage in Las Vegas and choose the right set-up for their cars. This is because Pirelli will be bringing a new specification of tyre to adapt to the very low temperatures.

But the fact remains that even so, the drivers will still struggle to warm up the tyres to operating temperature on the fast straights. In terms of grip, this is not helped by the asphalt laid down, which seems to be very rough and could once again tear the tyres from the inside.

What would be worth a try, however, is a bet on George Russell finishing in sixth place. Chance bookmakers, for example, have written odds of 1.80 on this occasion. Mercedes may have downright suffered on the straights in Brazil, but that’s largely because it absolutely missed the set-up. But his form in recent races has been very good.