F1 Racing In Las Vegas Tonight/Tomorrow

Car-Guy

Car-Guy

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Yes I know there's not a lot of automotive racing fans on this broad but this one is really unusual and sort of special.

It's Formula 1 racing (International circuit racing) and will be run on the streets of Las Vegas and right down "The Strip" for the first time. Also it will be starting at ~10pm local time Saturday night in Vegas. (1am Sunday ET). So basically in the middle of the night here in the US, which is an unusual local start time anywhere.

It's a ~17 turn road coarse with speeds up to ~220mph. If you have ever been to Vegas, it should be interesting to watch, even if you aren't a race fan.

Watch it live or record it. Oh, and my money is on Max Verstappen to win.


More Info:

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/2...-start-time-how-to-watch-tv-channel/10547853/

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/16/travel/formula-one-las-vegas-grand-prix-cec/index.html
 
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1AM ? I guess I'll record it.

I'm not a big race fan, but I like construction projects. I watched this video on the building of the F1 Vegas track. The F1 owner bought a 38 acre piece of land near The Strip (for $240 million !!) and turned it into stands, garages and hospitality areas. That, and all the repaving of streets involved for F1 racing standards.

 
^^^^^
Thanks, for posting that. I had no idea of the infrastructure cost at some of these street races, although I knew it wasn't cheap. Really big money in this sport. Heck, it cost 12 to 15m for each f1 car. Serious money.
 
Car-Guy said:
^^^^^
Thanks, for posting that. I had no idea of the infrastructure cost at some of these street races, although I knew it wasn't cheap. Really big money in this sport. Heck, it cost 12 to 15m for each f1 car. Serious money.
Click to expand...


Just some info.... I watched a show about F1 and they asked about the cost of the cars.... the head of a team said it was $50 mill cost of development and the car parts were in the $5 mill range.. so a car itself is only $5 mill... if you can buy the parts...


BTW, they did say that Haas buys most of what they use as it is cheaper...
 
Texas Proud said:
Just some info.... I watched a show about F1 and they asked about the cost of the cars.... the head of a team said it was $50 mill cost of development and the car parts were in the $5 mill range.. so a car itself is only $5 mill... if you can buy the parts...


BTW, they did say that Haas buys most of what they use as it is cheaper...
Click to expand...

Here's one of the places where I got my info.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor.../26/how-much-does-an-f1-car-cost/71206913007/
 
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Midpack said:
I watch every F1 race, been a fan for years. Not sure how excited I am about Vegas as an F1 event, but we'll see. Doesn't sound like the drivers are too happy about it either...
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I understand the local residents aren't too happy with all the construction and traffic disruptions. But, I would have thought that would be old hat for them.
 
Car-Guy said:
I understand the local residents aren't too happy with all the construction and traffic disruptions. But, I would have thought that would be old hat for them.
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Was in Vegas last weekend. DS was up from San Diego playing in a Vet's Day military hockey tournament. I spoke to many locals. #1. There is ALWAYS something going on in Vegas. #2. Unless they work down there, most locals rarely venture near the strip or Freemont street. Most folks (locals) I spoke to didn't even notice there was a F1 race (prep) going on. The major disruption that I see is the usual strip traffic (cars/people). Been over 40 years since a F1 race in Vegas. It was on the strip. Near/around Caesar's Palace.
 
Missing manhole covers are a heck of a pot hole.
 
Car-Guy said:
Here's one of the places where I got my info.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor.../26/how-much-does-an-f1-car-cost/71206913007/
Click to expand...


I would agree IF the development costs were included... mine was from the mouth of the team manager of McLaren IIRC... and he said the cost of the car itself (ie, just the pieces on the car) was $5 mill... but they did talk to Red Bull and Mercedes so not 100% sure who said it..


Now, your article says an engine is $10 mill... but that could include the development costs... either way, they spend $140 mill during the season...


This is from my memory and could be wrong... but I think there are 60 people per team or per car...
 
MC Rider said:
From the pic I saw looks more like a valve cover. Not big enough for a manhole. Should have welded them down sooner.
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Did not see pics, but what I read it that the concrete around the cover broke... not that the cover itself came off... might had been welded...
 
I'm not a big F1 fan, but my son and DIL are, so I listened with interest to this recent "Today, Explained" podcast on F1 racing in Las Vegas. It's highly worth a 25-minute listen if you want to get an education on what F1 racing is, why it has exploded in popularity over the last several years, especially in the US, and why the Las Vegas experiment isn't going very well. Bottom line is that this year's race could be a disaster for F1 racing, but they've signed a 10-year contract, so I expect they will learn and improve in future years.

https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast
 
Texas Proud said:
Did not see pics, but what I read it that the concrete around the cover broke... not that the cover itself came off... might had been welded...
Click to expand...


Pic I saw was a guy with a welding hood kneeling over a small cover and apparently welding it down. I thought the cover same off and really messed up the car.


Do these mega bucks teams not have at least 2 cars per driver?
 
MC Rider said:
Pic I saw was a guy with a welding hood kneeling over a small cover and apparently welding it down. I thought the cover same off and really messed up the car.


Do these mega bucks teams not have at least 2 cars per driver?
Click to expand...

DH is very into this, so we've been recording and watching the sessions that are in the middle of the night.

The metal covers on the course were spot welded in place before they started, which is SOP for tracks on streets. It wasn't entirely clear whether this was a water valve access or some kind of drain cover (both terms were used in the coverage), but it was fairly small, about half the length of the worker's foot as he was standing next to it, so maybe 6" in diameter. The commentators explained that a vacuum develops under these cars when they're going at full speed and that's what pulled this cover up, so apparently the spot welds weren't good enough and they went through the whole track and either rewelded or retested all the covers. The same thing has happened to other cars on other tracks in the past.

Each team has a limited number of spare parts they can use for the whole season. Vegas is the second-to-last race, so some teams are running low on some parts. Sainz, the driver whose car had the most damage, needed a chassis and several other parts that they had, but he also needed a battery and those were used up on prior races. They were still able to get the battery and rebuild the car, and he ended up Qualifying as 2nd fastest behind his teammate. However, the penalty for using the extra battery is that he loses 10 places, so he will start in 12th position instead of 2nd.
 
MC Rider said:
Pic I saw was a guy with a welding hood kneeling over a small cover and apparently welding it down. I thought the cover same off and really messed up the car.


Do these mega bucks teams not have at least 2 cars per driver?
Click to expand...


From the article...



A quick investigation of the track revealed that the race car’s speed and accompanying force put too much stress on a drain cover’s concrete framing, causing it to protrude and significantly damage the Ferrari’s chassis


It does look like the cover was laying on the street with the hole nearby...





https://www.popsci.com/technology/formula-one-vegas-street/



No backup cars.... limited to 2 cars for the 2 drivers... have to rebuild them if they are crashed... interesting that it gives me a copywrite notice when I try and copy some text...





https://www.rookieroad.com/formula-1/spare-cars-parts-2428118/
 
MC Rider said:
From the pic I saw looks more like a valve cover. Not big enough for a manhole. Should have welded them down sooner.
Click to expand...

Texas Proud said:
Did not see pics, but what I read it that the concrete around the cover broke... not that the cover itself came off... might had been welded...
Click to expand...

MC Rider said:
Pic I saw was a guy with a welding hood kneeling over a small cover and apparently welding it down. I thought the cover same off and really messed up the car.


Do these mega bucks teams not have at least 2 cars per driver?
Click to expand...

Texas Proud said:
From the article...



A quick investigation of the track revealed that the race car’s speed and accompanying force put too much stress on a drain cover’s concrete framing, causing it to protrude and significantly damage the Ferrari’s chassis


It does look like the cover was laying on the street with the hole nearby...





https://www.popsci.com/technology/formula-one-vegas-street/



No backup cars.... limited to 2 cars for the 2 drivers... have to rebuild them if they are crashed... interesting that it gives me a copywrite notice when I try and copy some text...





https://www.rookieroad.com/formula-1/spare-cars-parts-2428118/
Click to expand...

Yep It was a water valve cover. They are typically around 5-6" in diameter, and I just looked it up - weigh about 12 pounds.

Normally these lids are drop in - meaning that you can pick them up out of their frame by sticking a finger in a finger hole and remove the lid.

I see that the investigation found that the problem was the concrete surrounding the lid. Could be. But I think that the speed of the car could have suctioned the lid loose and the lid damaged the car and concrete surrounding the lid.

After all - if the concrete caused the damage - why are they welding the remaining lids shut around the course. Welding the lids shut tells me that they now know that the lids can be suctioned loose.
 
I guess the drivers hate the rule. I was in second on the grid and got knocked back to 12 for a bleeeeep battery!?
 
Well I just walked out of one of the sports books. I "was" going to put a grand on Max Verstappen to win. Forget it... Payout on a grand was just $333. (or a total of $1,333)

Juice ain't worth the squeeze... Maybe that last comment belongs in the "Idioms that Need to be Retired" thread. :LOL:
 
This valve cover thing just shows what kind of forces these vehicles put on the surface.

It's all about getting those four tire patches stuck firmly onto the road surface.
 
Great race. And Verstappen won. :dance:
Looks like he's on his way to become the GOAT of F1.
 
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Ronstar said:
Yep It was a water valve cover. They are typically around 5-6" in diameter, and I just looked it up - weigh about 12 pounds.

Normally these lids are drop in - meaning that you can pick them up out of their frame by sticking a finger in a finger hole and remove the lid.

I see that the investigation found that the problem was the concrete surrounding the lid. Could be. But I think that the speed of the car could have suctioned the lid loose and the lid damaged the car and concrete surrounding the lid.

After all - if the concrete caused the damage - why are they welding the remaining lids shut around the course. Welding the lids shut tells me that they now know that the lids can be suctioned loose.
Click to expand...


Welding the lids is a normal process on a street course... I would be surprised if they were not welded in Vegas... maybe they needed better welding... or they were checking the concrete around all of them...



Yes, the suction effect of the cars are huge... a couple thousand pounds IIRC...
 
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