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Has it been a year already? It might be hard to believe, but it is time for teams to return to the city of sin for the second ever Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Unlike last year’s inaugural event, both championships are yet to be decided as teams arrive in Nevada. However, this is the first opportunity that the drivers’ title could be clinched for 2024.
But as the season reaches its climax, this weekend sees a major change in race control that will likely dominate the pre-race talk on Wednesday. Here are the talking points for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Wittich out, Marques in
Perhaps the biggest story over the three weeks since the previous round in Brazil was the sudden and unexpected replacing of former F1 race director Niels Wittich.
One of two race directors who assumed the position in 2022 following the removal of Michael Masi after the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Wittich proved to be the steadier hand than Eduardo Freitas and was installed as the permanent race director towards the end of 2022.
But Wittich’s time in this critical role has been cut shorter than many would have predicted as the FIA announced last week that Wittich had “stepped down from his position to pursue new opportunities”. Coming three rounds before the season’s end, the announcement raised many eyebrows with Wittich reportedly telling German media that it had not been his decision to leave his post.
Regardless of the reasons why, F1 and its teams and drivers will have a new race director for the final three rounds of this year’s championship at least: Rui Marques. It’s going to be a baptism of fire for Marques, who has been the F2 race director for the last three seasons. A high speed street circuit will have a high risk of Safety Cars or even red flag stoppages, all while running on the most unwelcoming schedule of any event on the calendar at a venue that saw major infrastructural problems result in a practice session being cancelled last year.
How difficult Marques’ first weekend in charge prove?
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Will Verstappen clinch title number four?
After his exceptional victory in the wet last time out in Interlagos, it seems only a matter of time until Max Verstappen is mathematically assured his fourth consecutive world championship title.
He heads into the final three rounds of the championship with a 62 point lead over Lando Norris. Any victory in those three grands prix will make him world champion again, but he does not even need to go that far this weekend in Las Vegas. If Verstappen finishes ahead of Norris in any position on Saturday, he will secure the title.
Even if Verstappen somehow finishes outside of the points or retires from the race, he will still become champion if Norris fails to finish in the top eight, unless Norris takes the chequered flag in ninth with the bonus point for fastest lap. But most likely, Verstappen will simply have to finish ahead of his rival in Las Vegas to become champion.
Given that Verstappen has only finished ahead of Norris twice over the last seven grands prix, with McLaren winning the sprint race in the dry conditions at Interlagos, it might be difficult for Verstappen to prevent his rival from beating him this weekend. But last year, Norris failed to complete more than two laps in the grand prix before crashing. Another retirement this year will almost certainly end the title battle.
The (less) difficult second race?
Last year’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was arguably the single most hyped event in F1’s history. As promoters, FOM went all-out to make the race feel like one of the biggest sporting events on the planet with a special opening ceremony with live music performances.
But once the action got underway, the sport was left with egg on its face after a loose drain cover wrecked Carlos Sainz Jnr’s Ferrari minutes into the opening practice session, causing it to be cancelled and leading to major delays to the second, with fans then having to be evicted from the grandstands. Not only that, the incident caused Sainz’s car major damage which forced him to take a power unit penalty, to his and his team’s disgust.
Fortunately for Formula 1, the grand prix itself was one of the more exciting of the 2023 season with a race long battle between the two Red Bulls and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Twelve months on from that first event, Formula 1 and organisers will hopefully have learned many lessons and this year’s event will be as smooth as the felt lined poker tables at the many casinos lining the circuit.
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Alpine watching their back
It’s fair to say it’s been an especially challenging season for Alpine compared to what their ambitions would have been heading into 2024.
That is, until the last round in Brazil, when Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly had their best day together as team mates when they scored a double podium finish behind Verstappen to delight their team and their new team principal Oliver Oakes. The 35 points they scored as a result launched them up from ninth in the constructors’ championship to sixth place, breaking the hearts of Williams and irking both Haas and RB, who had previously been fighting each other for the honour of finishing sixth in the championship.
Alpine now have a tough task ahead of them to try and keep this position over the final three rounds of the season. They are just three points ahead of Haas with RB a further two behind. Before hitting the jackpot in Sao Paulo, Alpine had scored just five points in the previous seven rounds, compared to 19 to Haas and 11 for RB. The pressure on Ocon and Gasly will be heavy in Vegas as both Haas and RB will be looking to strike back and reclaim that sixth position and the millions of dollars of extra prize money that comes with it.
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Williams’ woes
As well as dropping down to ninth in the constructors’ championship, Williams endured a torrid weekend in Brazil as both Alexander Albon and Franco Colapinto crashed their cars heavily on Sunday in Sao Paulo.
The team has worked hard to rebuild their cars and there is no doubts about them racing this weekend, but no team has faced as many major repair jobs like Williams this season. That is not insignificant for a team with one of the smallest team budgets on the grid.
A street circuit like Las Vegas will mean the risk of accidents and further damage will be higher than at the following two rounds. Will Williams avoid another expensive weekend?
Viva Las Vegas liveries
As the new golden child of the F1 calendar, teams and drivers alike went all out for last year’s first event in Sin City. Virtually every team had a special one-off livery design to celebrate the race with most drivers also marking the occasion with special helmet designs too.
Williams and Sauber have already confirmed they will be running special looks on their cars for this weekend’s race. It’s almost certain more will follow in the lead-up to Thursday’s opening practice session. Expect plenty of playing card motifs plus an Elvis Presley reference or two.
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Are you going to the Las Vegas Grand Prix?
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Who do you think will be the team to beat in the Las Vegas Grand Prix? Have your say below.
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