It’s straight out of a video game, but Formula 1 really will be racing on Las Vegas Boulevard, or the Strip to you and me.
Whether you’re a fan of Liberty Media’s desire to add destination cities to the F1 calendar or not, you can’t deny that if you’re going to do it, do it right, and you can’t get much more right than the central part of the Strip for a Las Vegas location.
Now, seeing as there’s not enough travel and events to work at on the current schedule, I thought the sensible thing to do would be to fill the gap between Jeddah and Melbourne with a trip to Las Vegas. And I must admit to looking forward to it a little bit more than the former…
The beauty of a street circuit is you can drive it yourself before it becomes a race track, and with the Vegas location that becomes even easier, so I decided to head out to take a look at just where F1 cars are set to race next November.
Las Vegas GP Start/finish straight
It starts with an absolute failure, because the opening four corners don’t yet exist. In fact, nor does the final corner. Turn 14 will be a fast left-hander leading onto a relatively short pit straight, feeding into a tight left-hand hairpin, another kink left at Turn 2, then two right-handers that are essentially one long sweeping fast right that joins the existing Koval Lane.
For now, the location of this first section is simply a derelict, undeveloped swathe of land. It has an advertising board on the outside of an unused building stating it has been earmarked for development into a resort, but its owners have clearly seen F1 as added value compared to another casino off the Strip.
Passing the inconspicuous wasteland on the right, this is where I can pick up the track, although in my rented BMW 4 Series I’m definitely a long way off the impression that F1 drivers will have when they take in the first long stretch on an existing road that will allow cars to get up to around 200mph before a hard braking zone into a more typical 90-degree right hander.
Driving it, you’re still feeling very much in Vegas with the Wynn and Encore straight ahead and huge resorts off to the left, but the first landmark is one yet to be built.
Turn 5 and the MSG Sphere
The 90-degree right at Turn 5 takes us into a construction site right now, but it’s the impressive 112m-tall MSG Sphere that is taking shape.
As part of that development, a bespoke left-hand curve around the sphere will be incorporated, with a corner that looks very similar to the impressive Turn 3 in Sochi.
The track then rejoins existing roads where Koval meets Sands Avenue, and this is where it all gets a lot more fun. For starters, Sands takes a sweep right and then sweep left – although they may be too spaced out to be much more than flat-out sections – as it passes between the Wynn and Palazzo, iconic structures in the Vegas skyline.
Turn 7 and onto the Strip
A tight left-hander could be an overtaking opportunity, but if recent races are anything to go by drivers will be taking an “after you” approach as they join the famous Strip opposite Treasure Island (I know, it sounds ridiculous describing a track layout in this way…).
There’s plenty of space at this junction to get creative with the corner radius and apex position, but for my lap that size is a pain as it allows five lanes of traffic in multiple directions to be controlled by traffic lights. Timing it badly, instead of attacking a corner onto the Strip I’m simply sat stationary for a number of minutes watching cars go in pretty much every direction before we’re released.
It’s a reminder, though, of how busy this stretch of road is and what a big deal it will be for F1 to close it down to host a race.
The suspension rattling road surface – the middle of which is formed of large metal plates to cover damaged sections – is also a reminder of the investment required to get the track up to standard. It’s not just the race weekend itself that will see the road affected and closed off, but resurfacing works will also prove to be disruptive in the build-up.
The 200mph+ Strip section
