ROUND 22: United States 🇺🇸
FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN SILVER LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2023
Circuit stats
- First Grand Prix: 2023
- Number of laps: 50
- Circuit Length: 6.201 km
- Race Distance: 310.05 km
- Lap record: N/A
- **2022 winner:**N/A
Track Map
FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN SILVER LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2023
I don’t understand why everyone is saying the racing was great here. All overtakes were either slipstreaming behind another car or under breaking at the end of a straight. Sure it makes for a lot of overtakes, but not really that exciting after having seen the same move done a couple of times.
Also, why was the cool-down room a Rolls Royce and not an American car like a Cadillac? Seems like a missed opportunity to promote more Americana.
Because races are more than just the strategy or technical skill of racing. Half the entertainment in most sports are the storylines and this race was full of stories. When Max got a 5 second penalty it opened up the storyline of Leclerc possibly ending his unfortunate streak of starting on pole and not winning. Then there was Perez having a really unlucky turn 1 that he turned around and was even P1 for a stint, only to be robbed of P2 by Leclerc on the last lap. Then there was Sainz first being screwed over by the FIA but then also having a poor turn 1 only to turn it all around and finish in points. Oh and of course Max actually having to race for the win. And those are just some stories off the top of my head. So much more happened in the race that was beyond just strategy or skill.
If you watch F1 just for the actual racing then I agree it wasn’t all that great, but I think if you’re watching it just for that reason then you’re missing a lot of what makes F1 entertaining.
Most of the chaos was because the track was slippery as fuck. All those spins at the start were crazy.
The race was exciting because of passes and re passes. Otherwise most of the overtakes were slipstreaming/drs overtakes.
Fingers crossed there is no sprint next season for this one. Sprint will just spoil the results like everywhere else.