Formula 1 2023 Season

Tom1200 said:

As a local I was glad to see such a good race.

LeClerc's pass was mega.

Hoping the ticket prices are a bit better next year.

A racer friend who was in town said he getting in and out of the track was pretty easy.

Gates and security were well done and well staffed. The complimentary food was surprisingly good and never seemed to run out. Honestly it was a good first effort there's a chance we'll return next year. I do hope they adjust the tickets somewhat. The super high end made no sense and the grandstand tickets were high but didn't appear to have a problem selling. Our stands were full of folks excited for the race. 

I liked seeing the cars at pit exit drifting around the corner, you could see there was hardly any grip until the tires finally got up to temp. After so much doom and gloom about the event, I was happy to see that it was actually pretty decent race.

In reply to triumph7 :

They all knew the fronts wouldn't be up to temp,while using racer excuse # 3 in the book can be applied to us mere mortals its no excuse for missjudgment by the top drivers in the world. :)

 Also I didn't see a whisper of smoke from a lockup and next to zero steering angle so Max being Max is my view.

 I'm fine with harsher penalties for that kind of move and track limits as well.

I'd say this shows that they can go ahead and ditch the tire warmers for next year.

My only wish for next year is that the start time is more reasonable for those of us on the east coast.  You can move the start time up 2-3 hours and it will still be dark.  And when it's finished, it would be the perfect time to fill the casinos and shows.  

The highlights looked interesting, but I've not noticed a replay of the whole race.  Oh, well.

In reply to alfadriver :

I'd like it to start earlier so if I go I can be in bed by 11. I was happy they were done at 11:30

In order to start at 10, they had to start clearing the "island" at 4 and close the strip at 5. I have no problem with the start time personally, but  that might be because European races are early for me so I don't feel bad for the east coast here :)

Max just can't make a clean pass without DRS. He managed to hit or push off two other cars. But we saw clean passes just about everywhere on the track from everyone else. I think that track worked really well. The DRS turned T14 into a braking duel and those 200 mph passes in T17 were awesome. Charles on the last lap - that was amazing.

Unless the ticket prices drop by a factor of 10, we'll be watching on TV from home next year. And it'll be a fun race to watch. Turns out it's one of the better tracks on the calendar for passing. 

Keith Tanner said:

In order to start at 10, they had to start clearing the "island" at 4 and close the strip at 5. I have no problem with the start time personally, but  that might be because European races are early for me so I don't feel bad for the east coast here :)

While F1 is eager to expand into the US market, their major existing cash comes from the UK and European markets.  10PM Vegas time was 6AM in the UK and 7 in most of western Europe, which is early-but-not-beyond-the-pale.  Moving it back to 7PM to suit the east coast of the US would make it 3AM in the UK, and that's not happening.

Keith Tanner said:

In order to start at 10, they had to start clearing the "island" at 4 and close the strip at 5. I have no problem with the start time personally, but  that might be because European races are early for me so I don't feel bad for the east coast here :)

Yeah, as hard as it was for me to do that late, I'm not quite sure how they could move it earlier. It didn't help I was working East Coast this week before flying out either. It's going to take me a day to remember when I'm supposed to sleep. 

I sort of like the overnight races in a way.  I can get up on Sunday morning and as soon as I've got a cup of coffee in my hand I can flop on the couch and watch the race.  I'm usually up by 0700, so by 0900 or so, I've watched the race and I have the rest of the day.  I actually find the races in our part of the world rather inconvenient.  Having to stop what I'm doing in the middle of the afternoon kind of wrecks the day a little.

the one good thing about the Vegas timing is that it's largely irrelevant, so missing it isn't a big deal.  It's so rare that the championship comes down to the last race, meaning the race is just another night race.  I know I'm not the target audience for the race, so they won't to squat for people like me in the eastern time zone.

 Jim Pettengill said:

I'd say this shows that they can go ahead and ditch the tire warmers for next year.

+1 to that.  

Keith Tanner said:

Max just can't make a clean pass without DRS. He managed to hit or push off two other cars. But we saw clean passes just about everywhere on the track from everyone else. I think that track worked really well. The DRS turned T14 into a braking duel and those 200 mph passes in T17 were awesome. Charles on the last lap - that was amazing.

I guess him passing around the outside of T10 doesn't count then?  

I thought it was a good race even if the results are the standard fare.  I don't think Charles was going to make T1 even if Max hadn't pushed him off, but I think the penalty was fair.  

Checo, how do you let him make the same pass on you twice?  And Max can beat everyone with a 5 second penalty and 3/4 of a front wing (yes, I know it was just the end plate).  

Track looked fantastic under the lights.  All the bumps causing all the sparking was fantastic too.  

I was really sad for Williams I thought for sure they were both going to score points. It would have been really cool a American scoring points, especially since he raced there for the Supernats. I wonder with a track not rubbered in and no tire warmer, perhaps races might be more exciting. 

jmabarone said:

Checo, how do you let him make the same pass on you twice?  

LeClerc's last lap pass was a thing of beauty from many car lengths back.........no one would expect that to happen from that far back.

Tom1200 said:

jmabarone said:

Checo, how do you let him make the same pass on you twice?  

LeClerc's last lap pass was a thing of beauty from many car lengths back.........no one would expect that to happen from that far back.

It certainly was. It seemed like LeClerc had Checo's number in that particular braking zone. Got him there twice.

They said that Checo took a higher downforce rear wing thinking that the track would be low grip. That wound up costing him a few mph down the straights. He could pass Charles with a draft and DRS but I don't think there was anything he could realistically do to keep Charles behind. I didn't see anyone strongly defend at the end of the main straight at 200+ mph with concrete walls on either side. 

In reply to CAinCA :

IIRC there were a few failed outbraking attempts. It was all before turn-in, though.

The runoff at the end of T14 worked really well when the two cars (forget who, a Hass and a Toro Rosso) basically drove right through and parked without causing a safety car. I thought the runoff at T12 was big enough as well but Lando decided to start his accident very early when he was moving fast.

In regards to an earlier start time, Ricciardo was interviewed and said he'd like an earlier start time. He was told that next year, Vegas will be race one of a triple header. 

Note my wishing for an earlier start time is purely selfish and utterly ignores the commercial implications...................yet I still want one. LOL

Of all the circuits in this part of the world....this is MY favorite venue

Yabadoobadee.

Psyched for the Abu Dhabi viewing party at my place tomorrow to close out the season.  Waiting on the emails toncome to work Miami.  Still have to get hotels and airfare sorted.

After his qualifying mistakes I can't see Williams keeping Logan next year unfortunately.

In reply to bruceman :

Unfortunately, I think you are right.