The city circuit in the capital of Nevada features three long straights that, on paper, suit the characteristics of the red car. However, recent simulations carried out in the Sports Management advise caution to the Prancing Horse team because the low temperatures at night will make tire management very challenging. Ferrari has set out for Las Vegas without making bold statements: during the practice sessions, Charles Leclerc will be able to use the power unit saved in Brazil, but in Maranello, they expect a defensive weekend.
Ferrari doesn’t have high expectations for the trip that brings F1 back to Nevada: in Las Vegas, the Prancing Horse team has never achieved significant results in the two editions of the GP held in 1981 and 1982. The circuit designed in the Caesar Palace parking lot has given way to the facility conceived by Carsten Tilke, the son of Hermann, Bernie Ecclestone’s trusted architect who designed almost all the F1 tracks of the modern era.
The circuit on the Strip, featuring three straights (the longest being 1,912 meters), should be congenial to the characteristics of the SF-23, with maximum speeds that will be record-breaking for a city circuit, reaching peaks of 350 km/h. Still, in the Sports Management, there seem to be more doubts than certainties regarding tire management. The latest simulations have not provided enthusiastic data, a sign that learning the correct use of the tire compounds has not yet ensured the expected values, making Maranello’s expectations more cautious. For now, what has caught attention is the red and white livery reminiscent of the 1980s.
The layout should favor lightweight aerodynamic configurations, but the fact that the race takes place at night at 11:00 local time on Saturday (7:00 on Sunday morning for us) raises a series of questions not to be overlooked. It’s true that Pirelli has chosen the softest tire range (C3, C4, and C5), but it’s also true that Arizona is a desert area with significant temperature fluctuations between day and night.
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Forecasts indicate temperatures ranging from 5 to 10 degrees, making it very challenging to bring the tires into the operating window. The challenge, therefore, will be to maintain the right temperature throughout the lap, preventing the tire from losing efficiency in the straights. We will likely see slightly higher wing profiles than those in Monza, perhaps drawing on elements from Spa-Francorchamps.
Fortunately, in Las Vegas, there is no scheduled Sprint race weekend, so teams will have the opportunity to find the right setup in three free practice sessions before “freezing” (pun intended) the settings for qualifying and the race.
Considering these prohibitive conditions, the mechanical parts should not suffer: the engine cover of the SF-23, which was generously open in Mexico and a bit less in Brazil, will be essentially closed with only two active gills, while the others will be sealed in search of maximum aerodynamic efficiency. The body at the rear of the sidepods will be tapered to the maximum, while the brake inlets will have to be partially closed to avoid the “glassification” of the carbon discs.
The Prancing Horse team would like to challenge Mercedes for the second place in the Constructors’ Championship: the red cars trail the black arrows by 20 points with only two events left in the Championship. It is easy to predict that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will play a defensive game without taking unnecessary risks: the power unit that shut down during the formation lap on Charles Leclerc’s SF-23 in Brazil has been saved, so it will be regularly used in the free practice sessions.
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