Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports
F1 is back in Las Vegas. Here is how, and what, to watch
Formula 1 is headed back to Sin City.
Over 40 years since the last F1 race in Las Vegas, the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, the grid is back with a vengeance. The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix is set to take place under the cover of night, as drivers will take on the Vegas Strip itself on a circuit that will wind drivers through the city streets, and past some of the most well-known landmarks Las Vegas has to offer.
As with everything in Las Vegas, you can expect a spectacle. Race week kicks off with an Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, November 15 that will feature all 20 drivers and an array of musical and entertainment acts. Participating artists include Andra Day, Bishop Briggs, J Balvin, Journey, Keith Urban, Steve Aoki, Swedish House Mafia, Thirty Seconds to Mars and will.i.am, plus appearances by Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil.
Then starting on Thursday, there will be actual racing. Drivers will have the standard complement of three practice sessions to acclimate themselves to what may be one of the fastest tracks on the F1 schedule. Race promoters are promising speeds on par with what we see at Monza, and the teams themselves are expecting Las Vegas to be a very fast track.
It all gets underway next week. Here is how to watch, and what to watch for.
How To Watch (all times Eastern):
Opening Ceremony – Wednesday November 15 – 10:30 p.m. – ESPN2/ESPN Deportes/WatchESPN
Practice 1 – Thursday November 16 – 11:25 p.m. – ESPN2/ESPN Deportes/WatchESPN
Practice 2 – Friday November 17 – 2:55 a.m. – ESPN/ESPN Deportes/WatchESPN
Practice 3 – Friday November 17 – 11:25 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN Deportes/WatchESPN
Qualifying – Saturday November 18 – 2:55 a.m. – ESPN/ESPN Deportes/WatchESPN
Grand Prix Sunday (Pre-race Show) – Saturday November 18 – 11:30 p.m. – ESPN Deportes/WatchESPN
Grand Prix Race – Sunday November 19 – 12:55 a.m. – ABC/ESPN Deportes/WatchESPN
What to Watch:
Here is the layout for the Las Vegas Grand Prix:
Race promoters are promising speed, and that is exactly what the teams expect.
“It is gonna be fast,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told me when I spoke with him last month.
“That’s a fact, right? We’ve seen the circuit,” Brown continued. “I think it’s either the longest or the second longest straight in Formula One. So it is gonna be fast. That is a fact.”
“I’ve already driven it on the simulator,” said Williams driver Alexander Albon ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix. “It’s hard to get proper data from there, because obviously, the track is still open to the public, so it’s not as accurate as it normally is. But it’s clear that it’s very high speed. It feels extremely quick when you’re driving on the simulator.”
When you look at the layout, you can understand why teams are expecting this to be an extremely fast track. It contain a number of straights, most notably the long run coming out of Turn 12, into Turn 13 and down the Vegas Strip into the quick chicane made up of Turns 14, 15, and 16.
Here are some of the major storylines heading into the penultimate race of the season.
Who wins the battle for second place between Mercedes and Ferrari?
Will weather be the big X factor?
Can Sergio Pérez hold off Lewis Hamilton for second place in the Drivers’ Championship?
Which team wins the four-way fight for seventh place?
Can Logan Sargeant lock down his spot for the 2024 season?
All the F1 terms you need to know before the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix
