Fernando Alonso reckons that no two laps of the Las Vegas Grand
Prix weekend will feel the same for drivers as the unusual surface
grips up. The Strip itself has been resurfaced ahead of Grand Prix
racing’s return to Sin City, but public roads make up other
sections of the track – which will be open to the public throughout
the day with F1’s sessions all set to run at least six hours after
sunset. This has the knock-on effect of lower temperatures which
will make it harder to generate heat in the tyres, which when added
with the 1.2-mile blast down Las Vegas Boulevard – the Strip -, the
low downforce settings set to be employed and heavy braking zones
makes for a tricky combination. There is also no support series for
F1 in Vegas, with Alonso believing the track evolution will be
vast. “It is a street circuit, very low downforce, and just getting
that confidence into the car, in the braking areas will be very
important,” Alonso told media including RacingNews365. “With the
condition of the track and not having any support races, I think
the amount of track evolution during the weekend, is going to be
bigger than normal. “So that will challenge everyone, I guess we
will not have two laps the same on the weekend. “Every lap of the
track will be a little bit better than the lap before, from FP1 to
the last lap of the race, so we will have to adapt to that
changeable grip, so it’s going be a challenge for everyone.” Alonso
returned to the podium last time out in Sao Paulo with a
third-place finish – which is just Aston Martin’s second since the
summer break. However, Alonso is not expecting a repeat this
weekend, owing to a season-long weakness with the AMR23 package –
exploited at the similar Monza track. “Here and Abu Dhabi will be
as important as Sao Paulo for us in terms of understanding the car,
Austin and Mexico were very painful but they were also very useful
for the team in terms of understanding for next year’s car as
well,” he said. “So let’s see how it goes here. I think it’s going
to be a tough weekend, maybe for us, with these long straights and
so on.”
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