The city circuit of Las Vegas is located in the state of Nevada and is the second longest of the entire World Cup, with well 6201 meters, behind only that of Spa-Francorchamps. It is a modern and very fast track, designed around the famous one Stripthe main street of the city, and which passes through some of the most iconic points of the Nevada capital: from Caesars Palace al Bellagiountil Venetian. The track is one of the fastest in terms of average speed, and this is immediately clear from an impressive fact: the drivers remain with the accelerator completely wide open for approximately 80% of the ridea very rare percentage elsewhere in the calendar. To confirm how much Las Vegas rewards pure speed, there is also the top speed recorded in 2024 by Alexander Albon who, with his Williams, touched the 369 km/h: the highest speed of the entire season.
A peculiarity of the Las Vegas GP it concerns the time: it is in fact the only race in the World Championship to be held on a Saturday. In Italy the green flag goes off at 5 in the morningwhile in Las Vegas it runs in the middle of the night. The reason is the 9 hour time zone between Nevada and Italy, but also a precise choice by the organizers: to keep the race perfectly in line with the atmosphere of the city, which comes alive especially after sunset. Pilots will have to complete 50 lapsfor a total distance of 309,958 km.
Formula 1 has already raced in Las Vegas in the early 1980s, on a temporary circuit next to the Caesars Palace hotel, more precisely the single-seaters raced in the hotel car park in the 1981 and 1982 editions. The race returned to the calendar in 2023, after 41 years old of absence in motorsport.
Inside the Las Vegas circuit: between long straights and fast corners
The US track consists of 17 curvesof which 11 on the left and 6 on the right but, as we mentioned before, the brakes only come into play in seven of these. Three of these brakings are considered challengingtwo of medium difficulty and the remaining light. The most critical is the curve 14where the single-seaters arrive at 334 km/h and the drivers have to brake for 2.19 seconds with a deceleration of 4.5Gcovering in that period of time 120 meters. Very intense too curve 1with decelerations from 322 to 113 km/h in a space of 132 meters. THE fast corners between turns 7, 8 and 9 require successive brakes, but only the first involves significant deceleration. In total, from the start to the checkered flag, each driver exercises approx 37.5 tons of pressure on the brake pedal.
Right at curve 14 we find the famous one “Strip Straight”a long straight of almost 2 km (the second largest after Baku), where it is possible to activate the mobile wing of the DRS and represents the crucial point for overtaking. Overtaking on this track is precisely one of the most surprising elements: in the 2023 edition, many were recorded 181a very high number for a street circuit; in 2024, however, they have been counted 74still the highest figure of the entire season.
When the traffic lights go out the pilots travel approximately 112 meters before entering turn 1, it is the shortest distance from the starting grid to the first corner after Baku (89 metres). In a flying lap you cross the finish line at approximately 320 km/h. There curve 3 it is the most challenging in the first sector: it requires exploiting the aerodynamic load without losing speed, and prepares for the straight with the possibility of DRS and is tackled at a speed of approximately 210 km/h.
The technical heart of the track includes slow curves between the large Las Vegas sphere. The most difficult braking is that of curve 7combining brake and steering to get to approx 100 km/hstaying close to the barriers. Turn 8 you travel with partial throttle, while curve 9 requires anticipating the apex point to have traction on the exit. Turns 10 and 11 are almost completely completed, while turn 12 requires attention to make the most of the traction on the exit.
After turn 12 there are two straights separated by an “S” with partial throttle. After turn 13 the mobile wing opens, with top speed up to 360 km/h. There curve 14 it is the most demanding on the brakes: you go from 334 at 128 km/h in 2.19 secondswalking 120 m. Turns 15 and 16 follow at almost full throttle, while the last straight towards turn 17 is run at full throttle. Here the management of the hybrid becomes fundamental: the percentage of time with the throttle fully open is approximately 80%.
The real challenge in Las Vegas is warming up the tyres: the three compounds
In Las Vegas the main problem is not degradation, but make the tires work in cold temperature conditions. The three available compounds selected by Pirelli are C3, C4 And C5respectively Hard, Medium And Soft. Getting them into the correct window requires attention, especially in qualifying; the riders will have to prepare the lap calmly, because going in hard straight away means finding the front too cold and risking lock-ups.
Low temperatures also increase the possibility of graining (i.e. the formation of small rubber balls on the tread when the tire slips on the cold), a phenomenon already seen in the first two editions. It’s one of the reasons why an even softer set of compounds wasn’t chosen: the current Soft is already at the limit in certain parts of the circuit.
On the strategic front, parking management is more complex than usual. There pit lane it’s long about 400 metersand a passage to the pits costs on average 21–23 seconds. Stopping too early can be counterproductive, because a cold tire takes longer than normal to become effective again. In 2024 almost everyone had left with the Mediumthen using Hard and Soft based on the development of the race. The two stops they were the most used solution. Overall degradation remained limited, but graining – especially on the Mediums in the first stint – forced several teams to review their plans during the race. Finally, the absence (or almost no) of large escape routes increases the possibility of neutralization: a possible one Safety Car it can overturn pit strategies and make pit stop management even more delicate.
The statistical side of the Strip: the “few” numbers of Las Vegas
Although the Las Vegas Grand Prix has recently returned to the calendar, there are already some interesting numbers to score. For example, the record lap in qualifying belongs to the British George Russellwho set the fastest time in the 2024 edition 1’32″312 with Mercedes, a race which he then won. In the circuit’s return to the calendar, however, he triumphed Max Verstappen with Red Bull and again in 2023 the pole position went to the Monegasque Charles Leclerc.
Before returning in 2023, Formula 1 raced in Las Vegas on a temporary circuit around Caesars Palace Hotel in 3.5kmwith 14 corners and the races were held in broad daylight in extremely hot conditions. In the 1981 won Alan Jones with Williams, while the following year the Italian driver Michele Alboreto he got his first victory in F1 with Tyrrell.
