2024 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Preview: Racing Down the Strip

The 2024 Formula 1 World Championship will head to Las Vegas this weekend for what will be the last race of the season.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was held for the first time last year, but Sin City had previously held F1 races. The current format uses the streets of Las Vegas to form the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, designed by racecourse designer Hermann Tilke and his son, Carsten's design firm Tilke.

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit features a 17-mile-long track at 3.85 corners, second only to Spa Francorchamps in length. The circuit captures some of the city's most famous landmarks in its background including spheres and actually runs down the famous strip. Because the race takes place at night, you can also see many of the city's neon lights.

Circuit layout, after a short run from the start line to the first corner, a tight left-handed, a series of more flowing Coe second sector leading to the first of the two DRS zones, the driver accelerated from turn 9 and the second stage so that the car fly over the strip where the second DRS zone was found. Then at Turns 14, 15, and 16 a narrow Chicane comes and returns to the main straight.

Pirelli selected its three soft compounds for the race, C3, C4, and C5, as has become the standard for the Street Circuit. The main challenge for the tire front is to maintain the temperature in cool conditions, especially during qualifying. The temperature is expected to be around 50 degrees during the race.

The weekend schedule is slightly different from the regular F1 weekend, with both qualifying and the race taking place on Saturday, and the race taking place on Saturday instead of Sunday as usual.

Following Thursday's first practice session, Mercedes-Benz AMG drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell provided an astonishing pace. McLaren's Rand Norris was also at the top of the timesheet, but Red Bull Racing champion Max Verstappen got stuck.

Entering the weekend, Verstappen is leading the 2024 Drivers' Championship by 393 points. Norris is 331 points in 2nd place, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is 307 points in 3rd place. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren leads by 593 points. Ferrari is 557 points in 2nd place, and Red Bull is 544 points in 3rd place. The winner in Las Vegas last year was Verstappen, who was driving for Red Bull.