Ron Meadows: Boxing in Las Vegas looks great

Mercedes chief racing engineer Riccardo Musconi and sporting director Ron Meadows discussed the details of preparation for the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix, where Formula 1 teams will have to overcome unusual difficulties.

Riccardo Musconi: “You cannot say that we are acting differently in preparation for the stage in Las Vegas than before other races on new circuits. We follow the same procedures, and a big part of this work is gathering information about what lies ahead.

Once we finally receive photos of the asphalt pavement, we analyze them and load this information into our simulator. Based on this we try to determine the optimal settings. But first of all you need to understand how the race route unfolds, study the configuration of the track, all its turns, their directions, to find out which side of the car will bear a higher load – on the right tires or on the left?

It is also important to know the length of the straights as this will influence the choice of the optimal aerodynamic configuration for that particular circuit. Ultimately, we develop a simulator program with which the racers then select settings.

We think the speeds in Las Vegas will be very high, so the wing settings required there are similar to those for Spa or Monza. But the most important factor on which much depends is the need to achieve effective rubber performance at low temperatures.

But that’s not all: the track surface is completely new and we don’t yet know exactly what its characteristics will be. We won’t know until we start working on site, which will be a key factor next weekend.

Some of the problems associated with the Las Vegas leg are caused by the time zone in which this city is located. You will have to work there on approximately the same schedule as in Suzuka, i.e. Japanese time, only in the US. This means that team base personnel who will be working in the simulator this weekend will need to start their shift at approximately 2am London time.”

Ron Meadows, sports director: “The most important feature of Las Vegas, from my point of view, has to do with the low temperatures. At night they can drop to 4-5 degrees, which is very unusual for Formula 1 as they are usually quite high.

Everyone thinks Las Vegas is hot, but we don’t think the temperature will exceed 15-18 degrees. It is generally very cold there at night and all weekend sessions take place in the evening.

We have already seen all the facilities on the track and I can say that the pit complex looks great. The garages are very spacious; there is a lot of space to accommodate teams, which is also quite unusual. Overall, the organizers did a good job creating the conditions for us.

If we talk about the main logistical issues that all teams will face, the most difficult thing will be to quickly pack equipment and cars and send everything to Abu Dhabi on the night of Saturday to Sunday.

However, I don’t think our race crew in Las Vegas will have any particular problems, but the marketing department will struggle as there is a lot of hassle.”