🏁 Sin City Spectacle

PLP Season 1 Edition 9

Are you not entertained!? With plenty of doubters leading up the race, complaints about the over-the-top build up, an FP1 that almost saw the weekend go down the drain (sorry.. more on that later), that was easily one of the best races of the season. For sure top 3, some of us at the Pulse even declaring it the clear #1. The combination of slip stream availability, cold tires, evolving track conditions, a jumbled grid, and diverging strategies were just some of the reasons for such an exciting LVGP. While initially we thought maybe idk, an 11pm start would have been nice - the 1am lights out only added to the anticipation, leaving us wider awake at race end compared to any 9am start this season. We’re going to start putting $$$$ away now to save up to go next year. Can’t wait.

It’s Race Weekend - 2023 Season Finale

The 2023 F1 finale heads to Abu Dhabi - a twilight race at the Yas Marina circuit that always creates a great atmosphere, with sometimes once in a lifetime drama (2021 anyone?). We’re ready for some bittersweet donuts to celebrate the end of another season - with a long winter of anticipation until 2024 kicks off next March (Technically February 29th is the start of the first race weekend). Start times for this weekend’s activities in EST:

• Practice 1: Friday, Nov 24, 4:30am - 5:30am

• Practice 2: Friday, Nov 24 8:00am - 9:00am

• Practice 3: Saturday, Nov 25 5:30am - 6:30am

• Qualifying: Saturday, Nov 25 9:00am - 10:00am

• Race: Sunday, Nov 26 8:00am

Quick Quiz: The LVGP had 99 overtakes. What was the last dry race that had more?

Find out below ⬇

Las Vegas GP Recap

Podium: 🥇VER - 🥈LEC - 🥉PER

DNF: NOR - HUL - TSU

It was fireworks at the first turn (stop us if we’ve said that before), with Max “sliding” and pushing Leclerc wide off the track and quickly moving into P1.

Pain.

Alonso was the next offender, also spinning into turn 1 and taking out Bottas, with Sainz clipping Hamilton and dropping way back. The chaos allowed Ocon and Stroll to shoot way up the field, catapulting both drivers to great outings. Along with dust accumulating on the track, it turns out that one of the pre-race driver’s parade cars broke down and spilled oil on some of the inside starting positions, around P4 and P6. Can’t say we’ve ever heard of something like that happening, but it sure spiced up the first corner.

Max was hit with a 5 second penalty which would normally be nothing for him, but with the track playing the way it did it added intrigue to the battles to come out front. Norris lost control on lap 3 and took a big hit into the wall, demonstrating the crazy amounts of speed we were seeing. While shaken up, thankfully he was checked over in the hospital and was unharmed.

Some good/bad safety car timing (depending on who you ask) helped Perez and Hamilton move up the field, with Piastri making some nice moves of his own. While we we’re rooting hard for Williams to make some noise with their best starts of the season, unfortunately tire graining was a problem and both drivers tumbled down the order - with Albon finishing P12 and Sargeant P16.

The battle for P1 was absolutely electric, with Leclerc passing Verstappen (quite a rare feat this year), Russell almost taking Max out on lap 25, Checo jumping into the lead only to play it too conservatively and get overtaken by Leclerc, Max regaining the lead (inevitable it seems) and then finally a brilliant move by Leclerc on the fourth to last turn on the final lap to take P2 right out from under Checo. For a race that Max won, it was still an absolute banger (as the kids say) with the top 3, followed by Ocon, Stroll, and Sainz (and many other drivers) putting on a the type of show for which Vegas is known.

• Power Rankings from Las Vegas: LEC, VER, OCO top the list

• F1 Nation LVGP review [Audio]

• Top Gear Opinion: Vegas was best of the season

• We loved this version of the Max Verstappen podcast: The on wheels edition

Fans File a Class Action Lawsuit Against the LVGP

After a drain cover came loose in FP1 and was stuck by Carlos Sainz, the first on track action of the weekend was not to be resumed after only 8 minutes. Naturally this was disappointing - but matters were made worse when fans were sent home before the start of FP2 at 2:30am local time after track repairs took 5 hours. Little communication and a seeming lack of preparation (drains are usually welded shut on street circuits - this is not the first time this has happened) was only exacerbated by F1 offering a merchandise voucher to fans instead of a full refund. No time was wasted and 24 hours later a lawsuit was brought forth, starting the weekend with one heck of a speed bump. It’s a good thing the race was so electric, because the initial response from race organizers was poor at best. Now, they have the opportunity to smooth over fan relations with everyone instead talking about the excitement we saw on track.

The unfortunate drain pipe incident was more than an inconvenience, it was also highly dangerous. Carlos reported losing feeling in his legs after running over the 50lb piece of metal, not to mention the possibility it could have been flung into the stands and caused serious injury or death. To add insult to injury, it absolutely destroyed his car, costing Ferrari roughly $2 million to fix - with an added a 10 place grid penalty for the race since a new power unit had to be used. Many fans were calling for a common sense ruling since the incident was completely out of the Ferrari driver’s control, but alas the FIA would not budge. Extra painful considering the pace we saw from Leclerc - one can only imagine the added excitement if we had 2 prancing horses battling the Red Bulls instead of one. It definitely would have given the Scuderia a better shot at victory.

• Read more: Frustrated fans file suit

• Carlos hitting the drain pipe captured on cctv [Video]

Abu Dhabi GP Preview

Although the champs have been sorted out for some time, the last race of the year still has some tight battles to decide. Sainz and Alonso in a dead heat for 4th place, with Norris not far behind (and Leclerc with an outside shot?). Ferrari trails Mercedes by only 4 points for 2nd in the Constructors’, Aston still has a shot at McLaren, while AlphaTauri and Haas look to challenge Williams and Alpha Romeo respectively. There’s plenty to watch for with millions in prize money still on the line.

The Yas Marina Circuit debuted in 2009, with Sebastian Vettel taking the inaugural win. The track is split by a long straight between turns 5 and 6, with some slow corners at the beginning and end which are prime overtaking spots. Turns 10 and 11 provide a challenge via hard braking needed while sustaining lateral g-force.

Be sure to watch drivers do donuts around the finish line upon race completion, to celebrate the end of the season and the fact that it doesn’t matter if they put unnecessary strain on the car once it’s all over.

• The dramatic story of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP that saw Max Verstappen claim his first championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the race

• VER - LEC - PER donuts from 2022 race (same podium as LVGP coincidentally)

• Drivers want to split up Vegas and Abu Dhabi next year due to the travel and time zone impact - especially since 2024 will be a triple header with Qatar slotting in between the two

Down the Grid

Tech Talk

• Did Ferrari’s rear wing gamble cost them a win? [F1 Unlocked Only]

• Track similarity analysis from @Big_Data_Master on X. Abu Dhabi most similar to Barcelona based on corner density, max/average speed, and full throttle percentages:

• While we knew the effect of floor design on downforce, something we learned this week: the front wing has almost as much impact on downforce as the rear wing. From a great aero thread from @dr_obbs on X:

Off the Grid

• Checo looking like a lost child in this awkward intro from Bruce Buffer. This is incredible. I’ve watched it a dozen times and it just gets better and better. A funny comment I read somewhere - “Checo was still buffering” 🥁

• The Denver Broncos’ QB Russell Wilson called an audible during a play on Sunday by yelling “Max Verstappen!”

• Hamilton denies reaching out to Red Bull earlier this year

• The race is over, but the F1 tear down along the strip has just begun

• The wife and I enjoyed this bad boy during the race 🔽. Honestly nothing like sipping on a robust cab at 2 a.m. trying not to yell too loudly as Charles Leclerc fights both Red Bulls for the lead. This wine is a collab between St. Hugo and Danny Ricc (what can’t he do?) gifted by one of our dear PLP readers (we’re friends irl, you don’t have to send me wine.. unless you want to 😉)

Enjoy the 2023 season finale.. We’ll be back to recap all the action next Friday.

Questions? Comments? Did we get something wrong (never 😁)? Let us know ▶ [email protected]