Williams driver Alex Albon admits what ‘really won’t be easy’ at Las Vegas GP

Follow us on Google Discover

Williams driver Alex Albon has admitted what ‘really won’t be easy’ for the Formula 1 teams at the Las Vegas Grand Prix before the first race on the famous Strip in Nevada.

F1 is returning to Las Vegas for the first time since 1982 later this month but at a new venue. The Caesars Palace GP 41 years ago used a temporary course built within the car park of the Caesars Palace casino. But Albon and co will get to race around some Las Vegas landmarks.

The event will also be a night race held on the Saturday of the race weekend rather than the traditional Sunday slot. It will be the first Grand Prix held on a Saturday since the 1985 South African GP. Formula 1 has held 680 championship races on a Sunday since the Kyalami race.

Albon admits the Las Vegas GP temperatures ‘won’t be easy’

But a different schedule does not alarm Albon anywhere near as much as the temperatures expected for the Las Vegas GP. It may become the coldest Grand Prix in Formula 1 history to replace the 1978 Canadian GP, when temperatures fell to 5°C in early October in Montreal.

Albon hopes that the Baltic conditions actually help Williams at the Las Vegas GP. The Grove team often enjoy colder track temperatures. The layout of the tack Formula 1 designed may also suit their car. Although Albon admits the temperatures will be a problem for each team.

“Hopefully, the stars are aligned in Las Vegas,” Albon said, via Motorsport-Total. “It’s a track that should suit us in terms of layout. But it should also suit us in terms of temperature.

“I think qualifying will be of great interest to everyone to try to get the tires to work in these temperatures. It really won’t be easy. But this will be much more convenient for us.”

Formula 1 did not consider how cold Las Vegas gets at night

The Las Vegas GP may become the coldest Grand Prix in Formula 1 history as temperatures below 5°C are possible. Expectations, however, are of ambient temperatures around 5-10°C. Either way, the race will give the Pirelli tyres a unique problem as F1 goes into the unknown.

F1 has never raced in temperatures as low as what are expected for the Las Vegas GP in the Pirelli era and did not expect to. Ex-Formula 1 managing director of motorsport, Ross Brawn has admitted it never crossed their minds when planning the Las Vegas GP as a night race.

“The one thing we hadn’t considered initially but the tyre company have dealt with is it gets very, very cold at night,” Brawn has told talkSPORT. “So, when the race is happening which is Saturday night, it has been known to drop down to three or four degrees.

“So, it can be really quite cold. And of course, getting the cars to work in those temperatures can be a challenge. The tyre companies have done some work to make sure the tyres can cope with that. We’re definitely facing some new challenges which we’ve never had before.”