This is not F1’s first visit to Sin City – in 1981 and 1982 the sport turned up in town to race in the car park at Caesars Palace. This time things are very different, with a layout that takes the drivers around some of the city’s most famous streets.
Expect to see cars flying under pedestrian bridges, past monorail tracks and between many of the big casinos on the Strip, racing on resurfaced roads that are billiard table smooth and wide enough for plenty of wheel-to-wheel action.
Over 30 designs were created before the final layout was chosen and it has taken more than a year to put all the infrastructure in place – including a brand-new permanent pit and paddock. So, will it all be worth it? We think so. Here is what the lap will look like.
The racetrack starts in what used to be a disused car park – but if that sounds all a bit 1980s, it could not be further from the truth. F1 has turned this area into a grandstand-filled entertainment zone with a $500m pit and paddock complex topped with the iconic F1 sign and housing the Paddock Club, the ultimate place to watch the race.
The first corner is a tight left-hander that quickly follows the short start-finish straight. On the grid, the cars will be lining up all the way back around turn 17 and will have a very short run to the entry point, so there should be plenty of first lap action.
In contrast, on a flying lap, the flowing turn 17 will lead cars across the start-finish line and into this corner at close to top speed. Throw in the possibility of a long DRS zone into the mix and this should be a good place to look out for bold overtaking moves.
Once through the tight first corner, the track opens into a wider second, with the combination having the feel of a double apex turn. Surrounded by grandstands, this part of the track will give fans a great close-up experience, while the drivers will be so close they can hear the crowd inside their cockpits.
Continuing through this section, the next two right-handers again effectively combine, this time into one long sweeping curve. That will accelerate cars out onto Koval Lane, a 1km straight that is one of the longer on the F1 calendar, but not even the longest on this track.
Source: Autosport