Las Vegas Grand Prix preview: Cold tyres could be the difference in Vegas

This weekend, the drivers are taking on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit and the bright lights of Sin City, which is set to be a wild contest to mark the penultimate round of the 2023 F1 World Championship.

Expected to generate 1.1 billion dollars for the Vegas economy, the first Las Vegas Grand Prix will certainly be one to remember, on and off the track.

See below for a preview of the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, the track, and our top picks.

Cold temperatures will cause problems on race day

The Las Vegas Grand Prix returns for the first time since the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit which is the third longest track on the F1 calendar, consisting of long stretches and a few short turns which will see some cars happier than others.  The drivers will be spending a lot of time at full throttle which is going to punish their power units, so it is likely that we will see teams opting to run a lower-downforce setup which is certainly going to make braking that little bit more difficult and could result in plenty of mistakes.

The talk of the town in the lead up to this race however has been the effect that the cold, nighttime temperatures in Vegas will have on the cars, and more specifically, their tyres. The forecast is projecting a temperature of anywhere between 6-10 degrees Celsius which, when coupled with the long straights, will result in cold tyres and cold brakes, making stopping a great deal harder. We can expect chaos going into turn one on race-day as the drivers will struggle to have sufficient temperature in their tyres to pull off any aggressive manoeuvres correctly. So, teams such as Haas and Ferrari, who are capable of heating up their tyres quickly, could find themselves at a serious advantage off the start this weekend.

Despite the issues with the cold, you can still expect serious speed around this track with top speeds of around 350km/h which is on par with speeds around the infamous Monza circuit. Tyre choices are all going to be on the soft side, to better manage the grip in the conditions.

Top picks for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Yet again, we have Max Verstappen as favourite to win this weekend’s Grand Prix at 1/3 despite question marks around Red Bull’s abilities to get lots of heat into their tyres, however, their straight-line speed has been good this season so this track should suit them. At 8/1 is Lando Norris, who is the favourite to beat Max Verstappen, following some incredibly strong performances in recent weeks. Both in the US and Brazil Grand Prix’s, Norris wasn’t far off Verstappen and McLaren should be able to fire up their tyres, which will be favourable around the corners, mitigating any lost time from weaker speeds on the straights. Norris continues to perform and has been going from strength to strength recently.

Ferrari will be looking to amend previous mistakes of late, following a slight disasterclass in Brazil where Charles LeClerc spun out in the formation lap having secured a start from the front of the grid. However, at 12/1 he is expected to perform better this weekend, as the Ferraris are known be lightning fast and extremely efficient on the straights so this track should suit. Teammate Carlos Sainz is at 16/1 to build on a disappointing race in Brazil where he struggled a bit for pace.

As an outsider, Alex Albon could have chance at 11/2 for a Top six Finish in the Williams as this track looks like it could suit their car well and he’ll be hell bent on finishing the season strongly with a performance in Vegas.

Check out all the latest Formula 1 betting odds at William Hill