New track, new conditions and a question floating around on the eve of the Las Vegas Grand Prix: Could Max Verstappen be vulnerable in this scenario? Fernando Alonso answers honestly. “I don’t believe.” The three-time Red Bull champion has missed just three wins in 20 races this season. And in the first two races it lost to another Red Bull in Arabia and Baku. Czech Perez.
Carlos Sainz He has the ‘honour’ of being the only driver to beat Max in another car this year. The Madrid man achieved this in Singapore and is confident that he can repeat this success at the ‘Strip’ this Saturday: “I am more hopeful than in the past because the track seems to suit us better than the previous ones. Long straights like at MonzaTight corners like in Monza or Singapore. Maybe we’re not that fast in the first two corners, but the rest of the track, “Ferrari must be better and hopefully this gives us a good opportunity,” he predicts.
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“We worked hard on the simulator” and I can’t wait for the safety car to go around and see how much dust there is or the potholes, these are things you can feel and you also know if the track is going to be slippery,” Sainz adds cautiously.
Maximum and urban circuits
If there is a common element in Verstappen’s three defeats this season, it is that they have occurred on street circuits. He also suffered particularly in Monaco, where he salvaged pole position by just 0.056 from Alonso and managed to use this minimal advantage on Sunday to claim his toughest victory on the circuit.
HE Las Vegas circuitIt alternates between long straights (the main straight is 1.9 km long) and very slow and winding areas. But what worries the teams the most is undoubtedly the weather forecast; On these dates and at the time the race starts (22:00 locally), the air temperature is around 5 degrees in the Nevada desert (10 degrees according to the USA). forecasts are more optimistic). Pirelli has prepared for this scenario with its softer compound range (C3, C4 and C5) and will play with the highest pressures. However, Mario Isola warned that drivers will experience a lot of grip issues and finding the right setting will be important.
“The weather is quite cold, it hasn’t been this cold at any Grand Prix this year. The track is new and we have no experience with asphalt temperatures etc. These are completely new conditions for the car’s setup. I Red Bull expects a “quite unpredictable” weekend “I wonder what effect the long straights will have,” warns Helmut Marko.
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Alonso’s strong point
Due to his experience, Alonso is usually the best at adapting to a new track within a few laps.. Will it be enough to reach 33 here? The Asturian quickly dismisses this: “It would be nice to win a race, especially the first race in a place like this, but I don’t think it’s possible for this to happen.. “I don’t think this is one of the favorite circuits for our pack, I think it will be difficult,” he warns.
“It takes some time to get used to any new track. It will also be interesting to see the grip levels because that is always a factor to consider with new tracks and how the lower temperatures we are not used to, will affect this year. It will also probably be more slippery than usual,” he said. explains.
“I want to finish the season strongly with as many points as possible. It’s true that we are all thinking about 2024, but we want to make sure we come into next season in the best possible position and with good momentum.” ,” he concludes.