With the company Las Vegas Grand Prix at the gates, Mario Isola, motorsport manager of Pirelli, gives us an in-depth look at the upcoming challenges. In this penultimate round of the Formula 1 calendar, Las Vegas emerges as a new addition full of unknowns. The asphalt conditions and the low evening temperatures will test the teams and raise doubts that no one can answer with certainty at the moment. Las Vegas returns to F1 after a 40-year absence, on a completely different track, a low-downforce city track with three long straights and 17 corners that partly resembles Baku and Monza. So let's see the Pirelli preview with Mario Isola's statements for the Las Vegas Grand Prix!
Mario Isola's statements
In the previews of the weekend in Las Vegas, Isola outlines a context of intriguing challenges and expectations. “F1 returns to the United States for the third time this season following the events in Miami and Austin. And it does so with one of the most eagerly awaited Grands Prix of the year, that of Las Vegas, where the top automotive competition has not taken place since 1982. It will be a fascinating Grand Prix because it will take place in a city that makes entertainment its main feature and all of us who work in this sport want to offer spectators something unique and worthy of its fame."
It will be a first time for everyone, even for Pirelli. The city circuit was in fact created specifically for the occasion but also runs along the most famous and busiest streets of the city of sin, the famous Strip!
"Both for the teams and for us, it will also be a particular technical challenge that we will face without any point of reference, with the exception of the simulations. In fact, no one has ever raced on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, a 6,12 kilometer long track – second only to Spa-Francorchamps in this year's world championship calendar – and characterized by three straights and 17 corners. The asphalt will be a mix between the city road surface, particularly on the Strip, and parts totally resurfaced for the occasion, thus adding a further unknown. It should also be borne in mind that there will be no side races to the Grand Prix and that the track will be reopened to road traffic for a good part of the day, which should not allow the usual level of rubberization of the asphalt and the consequent improvement in conditions of adhesion."
Le low temperatures influence the choice of compounds
A fundamental aspect will concern tire management on asphalt with an unknown road surface. The Italian supplier has in fact brought the softest compounds, C3, C4 and C5 given the low temperatures.
“We chose the softest trio of compounds among those available for Las Vegas: C3, C4 and C5 should guarantee a good level of grip. Tire pressure requirements indicate a minimum of 27 psi for the front axle and 24,5 psi for the rear. These are values whose definition is due both to the low temperatures expected during the sessions and to the configuration of the track. It should be kept in mind, in fact, that the cold reduces the difference between the tire pressure when the car is stationary and when it is stabilized, when the car is running on the track: while moving, therefore, the pressure will increase less than on other circuits due to the low temperatures of the 'asphalt.
A low load circuit
Isola anticipates a low downforce set-up and highlights the similarities between Las Vegas, Baku and Monza. "We expect cars with a rather low level of downforce, similar to those used on tracks like Baku or, even more likely, Monza. Top speed will in fact be a very important aspect to take into consideration to be competitive. Furthermore, all the sessions will take place at night, with air and asphalt temperatures that are decidedly unusual for a race weekend, more similar to those encountered when the early season tests took place in Europe. The long distances on a straight line will make it even more complicated to warm up the tires in qualifying but also to maintain an adequate temperature in the race, re-proposing - in a probably more exasperated way - a condition that usually occurs in Baku.
All the ingredients are there for an extraordinary event, albeit full of unknowns and possible surprises. Remembering the great success of Elvis Presley, then… Long live Las Vegas!”
Source: Pirelli F1 Media
