Drivers raise ‘insane challenge’ concerns as rain threatens Las Vegas GP

Drivers have voiced their concerns as the threat of rain looms over this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The third running of the event on the Las Vegas Strip could be the first in which the skies open, prompting Lando Norris to describe the prospect as an “insane challenge”.

Rain threat looms over Las Vegas GP weekend

Rain is forecast to fall on Thursday night, coinciding with the opening two practice sessions. The threat remains for final practice and into qualifying too, but the likelihood is far lower. Saturday’s race is forecast to be held in dry conditions.

In its previous two runnings, the Las Vegas Strip circuit has proven to be a challenging venue, due to a combination of factors: it’s a street circuit, characterised by low ambient temperatures, and it remains open to traffic during the day, conspiring to create a low-grip surface.

Add in wet weather, and drivers are wary that the challenge awaiting them will increase significantly.

“I think it will be an incredibly difficult track in the rain. Yeah, pretty nasty,” Norris said.

“It’s going to be a hell of a challenge, there’s little room for error, quite quick in terms of being a street circuit but the white lines, all the paint and stuff which is pretty horrible at times when you’re in the car, feeling these kinds of things.

“Will be a pretty insane challenge.”

Complicating matters is that track action is scheduled to take place once the sun has set (16:30 local time), and with low ambient temperatures, it’s unknown how quickly or otherwise the track may dry.

Norris’s apprehension is matched by Fernando Alonso, who admitted he is not looking forward to the prospect of wet running.

“Not fun. Not fun at all,” he declared when asked about driving around the Las Vegas Strip circuit in the wet.

“Visibility is going to be a challenge. I think under the lights and also the grip level is very low on dries… Temperature is low, so could be fun to watch, but not to drive.”

Third in the championship, 49 points adrift of Norris, Max Verstappen was somewhat more pragmatic, though still hardly enthused by the prospect, but did suggest that rained-out practices ahead of a dry race may spice things up.

“If it rains the tarmac is wet, so it’s a bit slippery. I’m not looking forward to that,” he said.

“I prefer to just have a dry race. It’s already hard enough, I guess, to get everything working here, or understanding at least something.

“If the track floods, maybe less practice, it’s also not a bad thing.”

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Carlos Sainz, who finished on the podium in Vegas with Ferrari last year, shared Alonso’s concern surrounding visibility under lights.

“One other thing to consider will be visibility,” he said.

“For some reason, all drivers felt like around this track, there’s parts of the track that are quite dark – darker than Singapore and all the night races that we go into.

“And we don’t really understand why, because the lighting should be the same. But there’s parts of the track that are darker than others. And with rain, that could be particularly tricky.”

The track schedule in Las Vegas sees opening practice begin at 16:30 local time on Thursday with opening practice, coinciding with the risk of rain beginning to rise.

By the time cars are back on track for Free Practice 2, at 20:00 local time, the chance of rain is predicted to rise to 40 per cent.

That will then drop to around 10 per cent for final practice, and sit around 20 per cent for qualifying on Friday.

Throughout the weekend, the forecast top is just 18C, with Free Practice 2 and qualifying likely to be held when the mercury hovers closer to a brisk 10C.

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