Ross Brawn admitted that the temperature was not something F1 originally considered when they were planning the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Up until 2022 the legendary motorsport figure was a part of Formula One Management in his role as motorsport managing director, meaning he would have been involved in the planning of a potential Las Vegas Grand Prix.
But having left the company and now with the race just over a week away, Brawn admitted that cold temperatures were not something they originally planned for.
Ross Brawn admits oversight of Las Vegas Grand Prix temperature
In an effort to cater for the European audience, the Las Vegas Grand Prix will take place at 10pm local time and considering the late date in the year and the fact that Las Vegas is situated in a desert, the race is on track to be the coldest in F1 history.
Early predictions indicate that we could see temperatures as low as four or five degrees, giving teams another aspect to think about, especially when it comes to warming up tyres.
With Vegas typically known for being hot, perhaps that is why that one element slipped the mind of the normally thorough Brawn.
“The one thing we hadn’t considered initially but the tyre company have dealt with is it gets very, very cold at night,” he told talkSPORT. “So when the race is happening, which is Saturday night, it has been known to drop down to three or four degrees.
“So, it can be really quite cold and of course getting the cars to work in those temperatures can be a challenge.
“The tyre companies have done some work to make sure the tyres can cope with that.
“We’re definitely facing some new challenges which we’ve never had before, but I think it’ll be spectacular.”
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The Vegas circuit has 17 corners but three long straights, meaning it could take teams more than one lap to fire up their tyres in qualifying. One team that looks more likely to struggle than most is Mercedes and trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said the predicted temperatures were closer to the ones seen in winter testing.
“It’ll just depend on exactly how cold it is,” he said.
“Because if the track is down in single figures, that’s often a region where you go winter testing.
“You do a run, it’s very difficult for the tyres to either get them switched on, or there may be graining and things. And then sometimes you just wait until it warms up a bit. So actually having to race and qualify in those conditions, it will be interesting.
“You just try and identify the risks with the new circuit, work out what your contingencies will be, whether you need any sort of specific car spec to deal with that. And we’re going through that at the moment.
“But as I said, if it’s at the very cold end of predictions, it’s difficult to know how the tyres are going to work.”
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
