2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix – Preview
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake heads to Nevada for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, in what promises to be a spectacular penultimate round of the 2023 season.
It’s a return to Sin City for Formula One, which raced there in 1981 – when Alfa Romeo claimed third place with Bruno Giacomelli – and 1982, in the season-ending Caesars Palace Grand Prix: the similarities, however, end there, as this year’s race will be on a brand-new circuit incorporating the world-famous Las Vegas Strip.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: “After three weeks on the road in the last triple header, it was good to return to base in Hinwil – where we resumed work right away to properly investigate what caused both DNFs in our cars in Brazil and make sure they do not reoccur. As a positive, our performance improvement went along with lower track temperatures, which gives us confidence as we head to the Nevada desert. We approach Las Vegas with curiosity and excitement, as it is for any new venue making its debut on the calendar. Everyone will be looking to do well here, so we must be at our very best from the first practice session onwards ito get ahead of our closest competitors. With two races left on the calendar, all of us, drivers, the team trackside, and the home team, are going to give all we have to finish the season strongly.”
Valtteri Bottas (Car 77): “I am looking forward to racing in Las Vegas this weekend: it is always exciting when a new venue hosts a Grand Prix, and we have seen over the years how good they are at putting up a show in the States. It was definitely a shame to end the race – and overall, the triple-header – with a retirement in Brazil, especially as it seemed like we had the chance to bring home some points. Still, we have two more races this season to finish the job, and all of us are motivated to get back into the fight. This is a new track, there are still some variables to discover, so it will be crucial to gather as much data as possible from the practice sessions, to be competitive for qualifying and place ourselves in favourable spots on the grid. From there, if we do our job well, we can challenge our closest competitors to finish in the top ten.”
Zhou Guanyu (Car 24): “The triple-header didn’t go as we expected, which was unfortunate, as we missed on a few good opportunities to score points – especially two weeks ago in Brazil. The team has been investigating the issues that forced both Valtteri and me to retire, to avoid a repeat. That is now a closed chapter, though, and we prepare to tackle the final two races of the season, starting from this week in Las Vegas. It is my first time here, and I can’t wait to get on track in person – as so far, we have only practiced on the sim. A night race in the desert, with lower temperatures, will make for an interesting mix, and it will be important to get things right from the start. We are motivated to do well here and in Abu Dhabi, and get back to the points: we owe this to our team, for all the work done throughout the season, as well as to our fans for their endless support. Vegas is known for its vast entertainment offering, so hopefully we’ll be able to put up a good show for all of them.”
