Sergio Perez admits Las Vegas GP fears for Red Bull ahead of debut F1 race – here’s why

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Sergio Perez has admitted that he fears the cold temperatures at the Las Vegas GP will hurt Red Bull ahead of Formula 1 racing on the iconic Strip in Nevada for the first time.

Las Vegas welcomes the travelling circus of Formula 1 to its streets this weekend. But Perez is wary of how the unusually low temperatures for a Grand Prix predicted for the event will now affect Red Bull. It is a side effect of Las Vegas and Formula 1 planning it as a night race.

The city has held Grand Prix previously, most recently in 1982, but will use a new circuit this year. The Caesars Palace GP 41 years ago used a circuit in the car park of the casino with the same name. Now, the Las Vegas Strip Circuit becomes the 12th US circuit that F1 has visited.

Formula 1 did not anticipate the temperatures of the Las Vegas GP

But in order to show off Las Vegas’ landmarks, Formula 1 agreed to schedule the Grand Prix at night. Now, it could become the coldest Grand Prix in Formula 1 history, beating the 1978 Canadian GP. The race around Montreal came in October and set the current record at 5°C.

Ex-Formula 1 managing director of motorsport, Ross Brawn, recently admitted that the cold temperatures did not cross their minds when planning the Las Vegas GP as a night race. The early forecasts are for temperatures of around 5-10°C when the lights go out come Saturday.

Perez admits his fears for Red Bull before racing on the Las Vegas Strip

London-born Thai driver, Alex Albon, hopes the cold temperatures for the Las Vegas GP help Williams. The Grove squad have tended to perform better in cooler conditions this year. But Perez does not expect the same will suit Red Bull, especially should the wind also be strong.

“I think it’s going be something that is gonna be very present there,” Perez said, via quotes by RacingNews365. “That will not be something that favours us as a team.

“But it’s something that we [have] got to keep in mind. Those things are very hard to simulate, also knowing which sort of wind direction we’re going to have.

“Simulators, these days, there is so much they can do and so much you can base on them. But I think it’s more the knowledge we will have on that sort of things.”

The Pirelli tyres Formula 1 uses require precise temperature ranges to operate at their peak conditions. But the predicted temperatures for the Las Vegas GP are firmly outside of those ranges. Although Pirelli’s rubber handled temperatures of around 10°C for the 2020 Eifel GP.