On the eve of the Las Vegas GP, Alex Albon delivered a warning to the fans and his fellow drivers. The British-Thai driver has staved off any assumptions that the Vegas GP is going to be a walk in the park. Though, from the outside, the track layout might deceive a few, Albon is confident the race is going to throw a spanner in the works, per FormulaPassion.
FormulaPassion.it quoted the Williams driver as revealing, “Looking ahead to Las Vegas, I’m excited to see what this circuit has to offer. From the outside it looks like a relatively simple track, but in the simulator this is not the case . It will be difficult to get the most out of the car due to the low downforce and uncomfortable cornering. The enthusiasm for Las Vegas has been huge, so I can’t wait to try the track.”
The race to be held on the iconic Vegas strip is riddled with challenges. For one, the track temperatures are reportedly going to be challengingly low. Turning the tires on would be a massive question mark when you couple that with the endless straights the track has to offer. To top it all off, brake temperatures are going to make locking up a regular occurrence during the weekend.
While the drivers haven’t actually put a lap in on the actual circuit, Albon has visited the simulator, like many other drivers. And from his preliminary briefing, the track profile alongside the weather conditions, it looks as though the drivers will be faced with a re-run of the opening lap of the 202o Portuguese GP. However, this time, they would have to suffer it for an entire Grand Prix distance.
With that, the excitement sure seems to be high because this could be another occasion where the mighty Red Bull may fail.
Is the Las Vegas GP an anti-Red Bull race?
Inherently, the Las Vegas GP circuit is a series of long straights with just brief intermissions of 90-degree corners. But one embedded characteristic feature of the all-conquering RB19 means that Max Verstappen may not prevail this weekend.
The Race hypothesizes, “It is qualifying that this could have the biggest impact on the pecking order. We have seen several times that the RB19’s big strength in how it looks after its tyres has left it vulnerable in qualifying.” And with the distinct issue of tire warm-up, the Vegas GP could be the Bulls’ Achilles’ heel.
The report continued, “Switching the tyres on is a rare weakness depending on the circuit and the conditions and Vegas looks on paper to be as far from the dominant car’s qualifying sweet spot as any track can be.”
After Singapore, Las Vegas could be the site of Red Bull’s 2nd defeat this season. The ‘next best team‘ would be jostling for the win. And this could change the face of the constructors’ championship and the battle between Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari.
