Las Vegas GP preview | What can the drivers and spectators expect?

Matt Baker is joined by former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok to look ahead to a spectacular race weekend of entertainment under the lights of the Las Vegas Strip.
Karun shares what he is excited about the most and gives a unique insight into how the drivers will prepare for the Las Vegas Strip Circuit. He also reveals what challenges the track designers faced when mapping out the track and what he thinks will make the Las Vegas GP a success.

**Navigating the Las Vegas Strip Circuit: A Conversation with Karun Chandhok**

In this episode, Matt Baker engages in a captivating conversation with former F1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok, delving into the highly anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix. Chandhok offers a unique perspective on the upcoming race, sharing his excitement about the sporting spectacle and providing insights into the challenges drivers will face on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

**The Sporting Spectacle: Unpredictability and Excitement**

Chandhok highlights the unpredictable nature of the Las Vegas track, emphasizing the significant temperature difference between daytime and nighttime. This variation poses challenges for drivers, particularly in terms of tire and brake temperatures. He anticipates the possibility of red flags during qualifying and the race due to the unpredictable conditions.

**Preparing for the Las Vegas Challenge**

Chandhok discusses the preparations drivers undertake to familiarize themselves with a new track. He emphasizes the importance of getting a feel for the layout, experimenting with braking zones, and simulating track conditions using advanced simulators. Additionally, he highlights the role of hybrid systems in managing energy usage during qualifying and the race.

**The Art of Street Circuit Design: Balancing Safety and Excitement**

Chandhok sheds light on the challenges of designing a street circuit, emphasizing the need to prioritize safety while creating a track that offers overtaking opportunities and excitement for drivers and fans. He explains the intricate process of selecting appropriate roads, considering infrastructure limitations, and addressing safety concerns.

**The Allure of the Las Vegas Grand Prix: A Glittering Spectacle**

Chandhok expresses his anticipation for the visual spectacle of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, highlighting the unique opportunity to race under the lights of the iconic Las Vegas Strip. He discusses the logistical challenges of building a temporary circuit while maintaining the city's daily operations and the efforts to create a visually stunning event.

**Defining a Successful Event: A Balance of Sporting and Entertainment Elements**

Chandhok emphasizes the importance of achieving a balance between the sporting spectacle and the entertainment aspects of the event. He believes that a successful Las Vegas Grand Prix should captivate both hardcore F1 fans and newcomers to the sport. He also highlights the role of celebrities and the opening ceremony in attracting a global audience.

**Karun Chandhok's Plans for the Day: Exploring the Track and Gathering Insights**

Chandhok shares his plans for the day, expressing his eagerness to explore the Las Vegas Strip Circuit on foot. He intends to engage with teams and drivers to gain insights into their preparation and simulation work for the weekend's race. Despite not receiving an invitation to the opening ceremony, he remains optimistic and hopes to find a way to experience the event.

The podcast concludes with Chandhok emphasizing the significance of the Las Vegas Grand Prix and expressing his excitement for the upcoming race. He invites listeners to join him next week for a detailed analysis of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

[00:00.000 -> 00:08.920] Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast and joining me
[00:08.920 -> 00:15.240] for this one is Karun Chanthok from his hotel room in Las Vegas. Karun, hello, how are you?
[00:15.240 -> 00:20.640] I'm good thank you, yeah, just got here a few hours ago and there's some really dodgy
[00:20.640 -> 00:26.360] looking art in my room but you know, we are in Vegas.
[00:29.640 -> 00:32.580] My first time here never been to Vegas before. So yeah, looking forward to the weekend. You know, I think it's, there's
[00:32.580 -> 00:36.000] obviously a lot going on off the track, the hype is is off the
[00:36.000 -> 00:40.760] chart. But if I'm honest, man, as a as an F1 super geek and a
[00:40.760 -> 00:44.200] sky sort of resident super geek, I'm most looking forward to
[00:44.200 -> 00:45.480] what's going to happen on track.
[00:45.480 -> 00:46.520] I was gonna pull you off on this,
[00:46.520 -> 00:48.680] because you put a tweet out earlier this week
[00:48.680 -> 00:50.340] about how you're actually looking forward
[00:50.340 -> 00:51.680] to the sporting aspect as well.
[00:51.680 -> 00:53.760] We've obviously had, well, we've had Miami,
[00:53.760 -> 00:54.800] haven't we, most recently,
[00:54.800 -> 00:56.520] as kind of a new track on the calendar.
[00:56.520 -> 00:59.160] We know America does it bigger and bolder
[00:59.160 -> 01:00.720] than a lot of the other races,
[01:00.720 -> 01:02.880] and yeah, there is gonna be so much around it.
[01:02.880 -> 01:09.560] But for you, what are the, obviously obviously the sporting spectacle, what in that sporting spectacle are you most excited
[01:09.560 -> 01:10.560] about?
[01:10.560 -> 01:15.000] I think coming to a new track is always exciting, you know there are always unknowns, we don't
[01:15.000 -> 01:20.520] know for example what the track surface is going to be like, what the kerbs are going
[01:20.520 -> 01:31.280] to be like but around here I think there's an extra real curveball for everybody which is the temperature. In the daytime it's like any desert I suppose at
[01:31.280 -> 01:38.840] this latitude. It's going to be 20 odd degrees in the daytime and it's going to be 7-8 degrees
[01:38.840 -> 01:45.920] at night. And that will have a huge effect because they've got big long straights around this track as well.
[01:45.920 -> 01:47.920] You know, there are parts where you're
[01:47.920 -> 01:49.760] going to get top speeds.
[01:49.760 -> 01:52.920] So just shy of Monza, so even faster than we have at Spa,
[01:52.920 -> 01:54.200] for example.
[01:54.200 -> 01:56.200] Very, very high speed.
[01:56.200 -> 01:59.480] There's a section which is about 1.9 kilometers, which
[01:59.480 -> 02:00.880] is taken at full throttle.
[02:00.880 -> 02:03.880] So you're going to be over 200 miles an hour, 350 kilometers
[02:03.880 -> 02:04.960] an hour.
[02:04.960 -> 02:10.480] And there's a lot of cold air going on to the brakes. The tire temperatures, so
[02:10.480 -> 02:13.640] let's take Baku as a comparison, right? You know, they've got that long section
[02:13.640 -> 02:18.360] from turn 16 up the finish line. On that straight, the temperatures drop about 30
[02:18.360 -> 02:24.440] degrees. Bearing in mind, it's going to be 30 degrees colder here. You know, that
[02:24.440 -> 02:27.600] that drop in temperature is going to be massive.
[02:27.600 -> 02:29.120] And when the drivers get to the end of that straight,
[02:29.120 -> 02:32.220] hit the brakes, you know, cold brakes, cold tires,
[02:32.220 -> 02:33.820] that's going to be really challenging.
[02:33.820 -> 02:38.240] So I think try to get the lap right in qualifying
[02:38.240 -> 02:39.260] and get the braking zones.
[02:39.260 -> 02:41.940] You know, as a driver, you're with a new circuit.
[02:41.940 -> 02:50.160] That's the first challenge is to try and work out with the track evolution you have to try and guesstimate and use your judgment it
[02:50.160 -> 02:52.480] is about judgment you know of course it's skill but it's actually about
[02:52.480 -> 02:56.880] judgment trying to pick where you need to brake and when you've got the
[02:56.880 -> 03:01.040] unpredictability of not knowing what's underneath your left foot in terms of
[03:01.040 -> 03:04.400] the temperature and the feel from the brakes and tires that's gonna be very
[03:04.400 -> 03:09.560] tricky so I can see a few red flags coming up in Qualy and in the race,
[03:09.560 -> 03:15.160] I think. So yeah, and I think, you know, when you've got a new track with so many variables
[03:15.160 -> 03:20.920] in terms of the conditions and the red flags and things like that, we could get some real
[03:20.920 -> 03:21.920] jeopardy.
[03:21.920 -> 03:26.540] I guess in Formula One, engineers, drivers, all like certainty, right?
[03:26.540 -> 03:28.420] That's what you're trying to cling onto
[03:28.420 -> 03:30.560] and you're trying to predict conditions
[03:30.560 -> 03:31.920] and trying to predict how a car will react
[03:31.920 -> 03:33.120] in those conditions.
[03:33.120 -> 03:35.120] For us as fans watching this weekend,
[03:35.120 -> 03:37.720] it's gonna be really exciting because, as you mentioned,
[03:37.720 -> 03:41.800] there are so many variables that can happen.
[03:41.800 -> 03:46.720] If you were driving this race this week, how on earth would you prepare
[03:46.720 -> 03:51.840] for a track like this? So the first thing is to get your eye into the actual track layout.
[03:51.840 -> 03:57.520] You know, frankly I just played the F1 2020 which, yeah, and I spoke to a couple of people
[03:57.520 -> 04:02.720] in the teams and I was like what's a track map like? And they actually said it's not far off
[04:02.720 -> 04:06.400] what they're using on the simulators. You know, they say it's actually pretty close.
[04:06.400 -> 04:09.540] So for any fans out there, and I'm not plugging the game,
[04:09.540 -> 04:10.380] I have nothing to do with them,
[04:10.380 -> 04:12.380] I'm just a fan who got the game.
[04:13.820 -> 04:15.280] Just so we're clear.
[04:15.280 -> 04:19.140] I enjoy, I actually found a really tricky factory, right?
[04:19.140 -> 04:20.900] I mean, I hit a lot of walls.
[04:21.740 -> 04:23.200] So I see that bit around the sphere
[04:23.200 -> 04:25.680] where you sort of have to break and turn.
[04:30.560 -> 04:35.280] I think it's they're calling it turn 789, but you go break and turn into the really tight second year chicane, which was added on, you know, after the original layout came out,
[04:35.280 -> 04:39.440] because the sphere was built there. And then the next one as well, there's a, you know, there's a,
[04:40.000 -> 04:46.800] again, a long left, which slightly opens up before you turn sharply left onto the long straight for
[04:46.800 -> 04:53.200] 12. Really quite difficult braking zones to sight the line. So if you're a driver going to prepare
[04:53.200 -> 04:56.880] for a new track the first thing is to get your eye into the actual layout. You want to get into
[04:56.880 -> 05:02.240] the rhythm, want to make sure that you're fully confident of the track layout itself, where the
[05:02.240 -> 05:06.320] subtle kinks in the road are and then you start playing around with positioning.
[05:06.320 -> 05:07.560] You know, in those braking zones,
[05:07.560 -> 05:10.360] do you take a tighter line and drive brakes straight?
[05:10.360 -> 05:13.720] You take a wider, shallower line, open up the entry,
[05:13.720 -> 05:15.680] but you're then trailing the brakes,
[05:16.640 -> 05:18.840] so you're always braking with some lateral load.
[05:18.840 -> 05:21.600] So you go into experimenting with the lines,
[05:21.600 -> 05:24.160] you go into experimenting with the braking zone,
[05:24.160 -> 05:26.080] and then the good simulators will be the ones
[05:26.080 -> 05:29.520] where they can really start to replicate track condition.
[05:29.520 -> 05:34.320] So the teams will all have a way to adjust the grip
[05:34.320 -> 05:35.200] on the simulator.
[05:35.200 -> 05:39.120] So they can actually simulate FP1, dirty, dusty,
[05:39.120 -> 05:40.440] you know, green track.
[05:40.440 -> 05:44.080] And then they can simulate track evolution.
[05:44.080 -> 05:45.780] They can also simulate temperature.
[05:45.780 -> 05:47.580] They should be able to, as I said,
[05:47.580 -> 05:51.180] the good simulators be able to simulate
[05:51.180 -> 05:52.820] the air temperature as well.
[05:52.820 -> 05:55.180] And then therefore, that effect on the brakes,
[05:55.180 -> 05:57.220] you know, when you go for the brakes at the end.
[05:57.220 -> 05:59.440] But that is the hardest one to simulate,
[05:59.440 -> 06:01.260] if I'm honest, as a driver.
[06:01.260 -> 06:04.900] Because that, on the day, you just gotta go for feel.
[06:04.900 -> 06:05.840] You know, and, but the teams will be using all that information to try and work out as a driver because that on the day you've just got to go for feel.
[06:05.840 -> 06:10.480] But the teams will be using all that information to try and work out what their cooling levels
[06:10.480 -> 06:11.480] can be.
[06:11.480 -> 06:17.360] They'll have, again, the big teams have a full car dyno basically.
[06:17.360 -> 06:21.920] So they put the entire race car onto this dyno and they will run a Grand Prix distance
[06:21.920 -> 06:29.680] to check the loads going through the gearbox and you know when using the kerbs on a street track, how the engine is going to work and therefore work
[06:29.680 -> 06:34.720] out the level of cooling they need. The other thing that's really important is the hybrid system
[06:34.720 -> 06:40.960] because obviously F1 cars are all hybrids and you've got to work out what's the optimum way
[06:41.520 -> 06:46.180] to use the electrical energy so you don't run out of juice at a qualifying lap.
[06:46.180 -> 06:48.700] It's more important for qualifying,
[06:48.700 -> 06:50.340] you know, to make sure you've got it.
[06:50.340 -> 06:52.560] In the race, they never ever run down to zero.
[06:52.560 -> 06:57.420] They all tend to stay in a band of about 30% to 70%,
[06:57.420 -> 06:58.620] plus or minus a few.
[06:58.620 -> 06:59.940] But again, you've got to work out
[06:59.940 -> 07:01.540] what's the best way to stay in that band.
[07:01.540 -> 07:03.100] Where's the best, you know,
[07:03.100 -> 07:05.320] and that's the next level of preparation,
[07:05.320 -> 07:06.520] coming back to your original question.
[07:06.520 -> 07:08.680] So the first thing is about learning the track,
[07:08.680 -> 07:10.300] getting your eye in, getting dialed in.
[07:10.300 -> 07:13.520] The next is about trying to understand the breaking zones
[07:13.520 -> 07:15.000] and the track evolution.
[07:15.000 -> 07:17.760] And then the third one is really about
[07:17.760 -> 07:18.880] into the hybrid stuff.
[07:18.880 -> 07:21.920] You know, what is, if you use a bit more juice
[07:21.920 -> 07:24.120] coming out of turn two, you know,
[07:24.120 -> 07:25.680] to get a bit more acceleration in
[07:25.680 -> 07:30.520] that DRS zone, where would you lose out on the way back? Or do you save it all up to
[07:30.520 -> 07:36.020] use on turns 12? When you get to the race for overtaking and defence, you have people
[07:36.020 -> 07:41.800] playing it, you know, using the energy in different places, like in Brazil, we saw.
[07:41.800 -> 07:44.840] So yeah, that's that's kind of the level of prep that they go into.
[07:44.840 -> 07:48.460] So we know that one of the challenges with a street track, particularly when you're going
[07:48.460 -> 07:53.380] to somewhere like Las Vegas, if you're trying to include all of the kind of key landmarks
[07:53.380 -> 07:59.380] within a track, how on earth, if you're the track designer, do you go about doing that?
[07:59.380 -> 08:08.320] It's a massive challenge. For a circuit designer to do a street track is a much bigger challenge than doing a permanent circuit where you've got a blank piece of paper
[08:08.320 -> 08:13.000] and you know somewhat free to do what you want. You're obviously
[08:13.000 -> 08:18.160] limited by the roads that you've got access to. So what would have happened is
[08:18.160 -> 08:22.960] the local government would have basically said these are all
[08:22.960 -> 08:25.280] the roads that we're willing to shut down
[08:25.280 -> 08:27.560] for the Grand Prix weekend.
[08:27.560 -> 08:29.880] Go ahead and choose, you know,
[08:29.880 -> 08:32.600] which you think within these roads
[08:32.600 -> 08:34.720] you can use to make a track.
[08:34.720 -> 08:35.560] They've come up with this track.
[08:35.560 -> 08:38.160] If you look at the map, have you seen it, Matt?
[08:38.160 -> 08:39.840] Yeah, yeah. The track map.
[08:39.840 -> 08:41.200] It's not, it looks like a pig.
[08:41.200 -> 08:42.040] Yeah.
[08:42.960 -> 08:46.400] I saw this on Twitter yesterday. there's a couple of tracks that
[08:46.400 -> 08:53.680] resemble other animals or like there's a dashund which one's the dashund? The dashund. Is that Miami?
[08:53.680 -> 08:58.720] I can't remember which one's the dashund. Yeah it looks like an upside down pig. Yeah yeah it was quite funny.
[08:58.720 -> 09:02.560] The first absolute first priority is safety you know they've got to make sure that if they're
[09:02.560 -> 09:08.560] going to make these tracks with these big straights and slow corners at the end of it,
[09:08.560 -> 09:10.560] you've got to have runoff area.
[09:10.560 -> 09:12.160] Like Baku turn one, for example,
[09:12.160 -> 09:13.520] there's a massive runoff area there.
[09:13.520 -> 09:16.360] Because in case there's a brake failure
[09:16.360 -> 09:19.160] or drivers have an incident or an issue,
[09:19.160 -> 09:21.560] you've got to have escape for them.
[09:21.560 -> 09:24.360] So that's the first thing that the circuit designers
[09:24.360 -> 09:28.860] would have had to look at is the safety of it. And then going to the sporting side, you
[09:28.860 -> 09:33.540] know, you want to make a track that's exciting for the drivers. You want to
[09:33.540 -> 09:37.640] make a track that creates overtaking opportunities. So you've got to have the
[09:37.640 -> 09:40.240] width. And I think they've done a really good job here. You know, it looks like
[09:40.240 -> 09:45.920] you've got some really good width to get side-by-side action. But you know
[09:45.920 -> 09:51.760] there's one there's one thing about doing the plans sitting on a computer in
[09:51.760 -> 09:56.880] CAD and all that sort of stuff that's fine but when you get here the actual
[09:56.880 -> 10:01.920] job of building a track is colossal you know and the team would have been here
[10:01.920 -> 10:08.320] for months and months on end. You know, because you've also got things like that you wouldn't think about.
[10:08.320 -> 10:14.320] You know, there'll be pavements, there'll be lampposts that are at the apex of a corner that need to be moved,
[10:14.320 -> 10:18.320] and then you'll have a council going, hang on a second, you can't just break that bit of pavement
[10:18.320 -> 10:22.160] because there's a fire hydrant line that runs underneath.
[10:22.160 -> 10:23.360] You know, there's stuff like that.
[10:23.360 -> 10:26.160] There'll be manhole covers, there'll be drains,
[10:26.160 -> 10:29.480] there'll be, you know, there'll be things
[10:29.480 -> 10:31.880] which are part of the infrastructure of the town.
[10:31.880 -> 10:35.300] Bus stops, for example, and just stuff like that
[10:35.300 -> 10:39.840] which will have to be moved, which is hugely challenging
[10:39.840 -> 10:42.200] for logistics and cost, to be honest,
[10:42.200 -> 10:44.080] to do that amount of work.
[10:44.080 -> 10:46.440] They would have had to bring in the blocks,
[10:46.440 -> 10:48.920] the concrete blocks for the side of the track,
[10:48.920 -> 10:50.420] and then the catch fencing,
[10:50.420 -> 10:52.280] which is there to catch any debris
[10:52.280 -> 10:53.520] to protect the spectators,
[10:53.520 -> 10:55.680] because you'll have the marshals most broadly
[10:55.680 -> 10:58.780] and the spectators slightly further behind the fence.
[10:58.780 -> 11:01.240] So you've got to bring all of that in to the area
[11:01.240 -> 11:03.380] and place them in the right places.
[11:04.720 -> 11:06.440] And then there's the curbs, you know, at the end,
[11:06.440 -> 11:08.800] you've got to place the curbs to create,
[11:08.800 -> 11:10.780] and that's a sort of final job.
[11:12.120 -> 11:14.360] So yeah, actually building a temporary circuit,
[11:14.360 -> 11:17.060] because you've got to do all of this work
[11:17.060 -> 11:18.480] while the city's still living.
[11:18.480 -> 11:19.880] You know, people who live here,
[11:19.880 -> 11:21.000] there are locals who live here,
[11:21.000 -> 11:22.720] and tourists who come all the time.
[11:22.720 -> 11:24.860] They've got to carry on, they want to go to the Bellagio,
[11:24.860 -> 11:28.240] they want to go to see C see Celine Dion or whatever it is.
[11:28.240 -> 11:32.640] And you can't block the entrance to any of these massive theaters.
[11:32.640 -> 11:38.880] You can't just block off Caesar's Palace because we want to build a grandstand there for this
[11:38.880 -> 11:40.240] weekend.
[11:40.240 -> 11:42.600] But you have to build a grandstand in all these places.
[11:42.600 -> 11:49.680] They had to cover up counters and things like that. So yeah, it's a huge, huge logistical undertaking.
[11:51.560 -> 11:54.080] And it's the kind of thing which,
[11:54.080 -> 11:56.840] you do wonder if somebody made a documentary
[11:56.840 -> 12:01.840] for geeks like me or people who are into construction stuff.
[12:02.320 -> 12:04.520] It would be actually quite interesting to see
[12:04.520 -> 12:05.280] the evolution from
[12:05.920 -> 12:11.360] day zero until running the race just what goes into building a street race.
[12:11.360 -> 12:15.200] There's so much detail for an event that hasn't even happened.
[12:15.200 -> 12:17.600] What then about the kind of...
[12:17.600 -> 12:19.840] Well this or an event that nobody's talking about.
[12:19.840 -> 12:24.240] Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah we do have a race we do have sessions that we're going to see
[12:24.240 -> 12:26.160] cars in anger going around Vegas.
[12:26.160 -> 12:28.260] And speaking of that, we've obviously,
[12:28.260 -> 12:30.700] that track has been designed with the Vegas strip in mind.
[12:30.700 -> 12:34.640] So you've got the landmarks of the Bellagio
[12:34.640 -> 12:35.760] and the Caesars Palace
[12:35.760 -> 12:39.840] and all of those amazing, iconic Vegas landmarks.
[12:39.840 -> 12:41.880] Just a word then on the spectacle
[12:41.880 -> 12:43.440] of what we think we might see this,
[12:43.440 -> 12:49.040] because it's at night, it's gonna be glitzy it's going to be glamorous, it's under the lights.
[12:49.040 -> 12:52.160] This is going to look spectacular, isn't it?
[12:52.160 -> 12:53.160] Yeah, it will.
[12:53.160 -> 12:54.520] It will absolutely look spectacular.
[12:54.520 -> 13:01.020] I think, you know, as far as I can remember, they haven't ever really shut the Strip down
[13:01.020 -> 13:02.400] for a sporting event before.
[13:02.400 -> 13:08.800] You know, this is unprecedented. And you know And Vegas has got its own audience, right?
[13:08.800 -> 13:11.200] It's own clientele, it's own people coming here,
[13:11.200 -> 13:12.560] it's own tourists coming.
[13:12.560 -> 13:14.280] It didn't really need to do F1.
[13:14.280 -> 13:17.240] And fair play to the promoters of the sport, Liberty,
[13:17.240 -> 13:20.320] who've invested a huge amount of money.
[13:20.320 -> 13:24.120] They bought two acres of land to build this pit complex
[13:24.120 -> 13:25.000] and make it...
[13:25.000 -> 13:30.400] So the pit garages, for example, I was seeing someone from Mercedes just downstairs in the hotel lobby.
[13:30.400 -> 13:34.400] They're saying they're bigger pit garages and they get 90% of the racetracks.
[13:34.400 -> 13:38.000] They've actually built facilities, despite it being a temporary track.
[13:38.000 -> 13:41.000] They've built facilities as good as any other permanent circuit.
[13:41.000 -> 13:43.000] So yeah, I think it will look spectacular.
[13:43.000 -> 13:49.240] I can't wait to see the helicopter shots of all the neon lights and all the rest of it
[13:49.240 -> 13:53.840] with the cars running around. You know, the drivers will obviously have to stay focused
[13:53.840 -> 13:58.920] on the track itself. But maybe, you know, again, one of the things is trying to pick
[13:58.920 -> 14:07.560] references I said for braking, you know, when you're coming down the straight, doing about 350 kilometers an hour, sometimes
[14:07.560 -> 14:11.560] you're, it's quite hard to pick.
[14:11.560 -> 14:15.160] You're focusing on the 100 meter board and then you'll know, depending on the speed of
[14:15.160 -> 14:19.920] the corner, you're going to break at probably 80 meters, for example, before the corner.
[14:19.920 -> 14:23.400] But sometimes with a street track, depending on where the marker boards are, they can't
[14:23.400 -> 14:25.040] have it at eye level. You know, at a normal track like Monza, for example where the marker boards are, they can't have it at eye level.
[14:25.040 -> 14:29.960] You know, at a normal track like Monza, for example, the marker boards are along the side
[14:29.960 -> 14:30.960] of the track on the grass.
[14:30.960 -> 14:33.920] On a street circuit, typically, you have to mount it high up on the fence.
[14:33.920 -> 14:38.120] So in the cockpit, if you're coming to a left-hander, it's quite hard because it's not in your line
[14:38.120 -> 14:39.120] of sight.
[14:39.120 -> 14:43.520] So you'll end up maybe using some of these lights and other landmarks that are around
[14:43.520 -> 14:46.960] there as references for the
[14:46.960 -> 14:49.420] corners themselves. Let's hope they don't put too much on the
[14:49.420 -> 14:54.840] sphere that's going to distract the drivers. What do you think they should put on the sphere?
[14:54.840 -> 14:58.500] Well, I've seen some quite fun mock-ups. There was a green screen that someone put
[14:58.500 -> 15:02.400] on Twitter of the sphere and people have been putting all sorts of things on Twitter. I
[15:02.400 -> 15:05.080] mean it looks incredible.
[15:05.080 -> 15:06.840] But I would imagine as a Formula One driver,
[15:06.840 -> 15:08.960] as you're coming into that section,
[15:08.960 -> 15:11.600] if it's flashing and moving and being disorientating,
[15:11.600 -> 15:13.200] which I guess is the whole point of it,
[15:13.200 -> 15:15.520] is to attract attention and to attract sponsorship
[15:15.520 -> 15:17.960] and ad revenue, it's gonna be quite distracting,
[15:17.960 -> 15:18.880] is it not?
[15:18.880 -> 15:20.560] I did hear that there's a,
[15:20.560 -> 15:22.280] I think a couple of our friends
[15:22.280 -> 15:24.360] have been to see it from the team.
[15:25.840 -> 15:31.080] There's a show called The Earth Show Show which is all about animals and stuff.
[15:31.080 -> 15:36.360] You could have lions jump out and roar as the driver turns around.
[15:36.360 -> 15:37.760] That could be quite exciting couldn't it?
[15:37.760 -> 15:41.080] There's a petition to get some lions on the Sphere, maybe for Max.
[15:41.080 -> 15:45.640] Get some lions on the S to scare the drivers away.
[15:45.640 -> 15:51.120] Just sort of finally on the event itself then, what do you think would be a successful event?
[15:51.120 -> 15:57.040] Obviously we've got this for 10 years, so what are we looking for in this first edition
[15:57.040 -> 16:02.840] of the Las Vegas Grand Prix that will make us excited for next year and the coming years?
[16:02.840 -> 16:08.160] Formula 1 is everything isn't it? Obviously,
[16:08.160 -> 16:14.480] as I said before, I'm biased as a hardcore fan. I'm biased to the sporting spectacle of it.
[16:15.040 -> 16:21.920] There's lots of others who are here because of the show. But it's all part of it, right? I think
[16:22.960 -> 16:27.000] I probably lean too much one way and there are others who lean too much the other way.
[16:27.000 -> 16:31.160] But a success is both unquestionably.
[16:31.160 -> 16:33.840] You know, you've got to have the celebs.
[16:33.840 -> 16:36.520] You've got to have all of America talking about this.
[16:36.520 -> 16:39.360] You've got to have the whole world talking about
[16:39.360 -> 16:42.040] how F1 is the biggest show in town.
[16:42.040 -> 16:47.080] And, you know, I think having the spectators
[16:47.080 -> 16:50.720] enjoying a good event, having the fans on TV
[16:50.720 -> 16:52.920] around the world, watching it going,
[16:52.920 -> 16:55.440] ooh, that looks cool, I'd like to go next year.
[16:55.440 -> 16:57.460] Which is, I think, really important.
[16:57.460 -> 17:00.040] You know, we want, Singapore is a great example of that.
[17:00.040 -> 17:01.720] Right, you know, you get to,
[17:01.720 -> 17:03.520] I remember the early days of Singapore Grand Prix,
[17:03.520 -> 17:07.800] I had loads of friends of mine in the UK who watched it on TV and thought, wow, that looks really cool.
[17:07.800 -> 17:12.200] It looks amazing, those helicopter shots you get of Marina Bay Sands and all that, it looks
[17:12.200 -> 17:13.400] amazing.
[17:13.400 -> 17:16.280] And then people from Europe have started going to the Singapore Grand Prix and that makes
[17:16.280 -> 17:20.640] it a success because that's the point of these races, is to draw the fans in and put on a
[17:20.640 -> 17:23.800] good show for the fans.
[17:23.800 -> 17:25.680] When the fans do come here, there's no shortage
[17:25.680 -> 17:29.960] of things and activities to do at all the different budgets.
[17:31.000 -> 17:34.960] So I think that, to me, that would be a success,
[17:34.960 -> 17:37.560] is A, we have a good race on track,
[17:37.560 -> 17:41.160] and B, we get lots of people here in Vegas,
[17:41.160 -> 17:44.840] here in America, but also all around the world,
[17:44.840 -> 17:50.000] talking about what a good event it looked like on on TV, and I'm sure it will look great
[17:50.000 -> 17:55.120] We've got the opening ceremony kind of I think that's later today or sorry might be do we might be tomorrow
[17:55.120 -> 17:59.040] I was gonna ask you most excited about seeing talking of stars. We've got John legend
[17:59.720 -> 18:05.360] Tiesto will I am right 30 seconds to Mars Kylie might be there. Who of those are you gonna
[18:05.360 -> 18:10.960] you gonna, who's merch are you buying? I haven't got, well I haven't got an invite so I have
[18:10.960 -> 18:19.080] no idea what you're talking about. Clearly I didn't make the list. I'm sure if you, you
[18:19.080 -> 18:24.080] know. I'll be sitting at the Dunkin Donuts outside our hotel trying to listen into the
[18:24.080 -> 18:27.040] music. Oh I mean this is certainly a pretty good lineup
[18:27.040 -> 18:28.280] for an opening ceremony.
[18:28.280 -> 18:29.120] Before I let you go,
[18:29.120 -> 18:30.480] what are you up to the rest of today?
[18:30.480 -> 18:32.640] We're recording this on a Tuesday.
[18:32.640 -> 18:35.160] Obviously, everything is a day earlier for Vegas.
[18:35.160 -> 18:38.240] So tell us what you've got planned for the rest of today.
[18:38.240 -> 18:40.760] I, as I said, I've never been to Vegas before
[18:40.760 -> 18:41.920] and I've not seen the track.
[18:41.920 -> 18:44.240] I drove it on the game, as I said.
[18:46.960 -> 18:48.920] So I'm gonna go into the circuit, have a walk seeing the track. I drove it on the game, as I said. But, so I'm going to go into the circuit and have a walk around the track.
[18:48.920 -> 18:50.120] The road is still not closed.
[18:50.120 -> 18:50.960] It's still open to public.
[18:50.960 -> 18:52.540] So there's taxis and cars and buses
[18:52.540 -> 18:54.160] and all sorts of driving around it.
[18:54.160 -> 18:57.520] But that's like when we go to Monaco or, you know,
[18:57.520 -> 18:59.960] other street tracks we go to.
[18:59.960 -> 19:04.080] So the track is technically open for public to drive around.
[19:04.080 -> 19:08.480] I'm not sure I can convince an Uber driver to do a lap of it on the racing line.
[19:08.480 -> 19:12.080] So I might just brave it and go for a walk.
[19:12.080 -> 19:13.960] It's the second longest track of the calendar.
[19:13.960 -> 19:16.800] It's only after Spa, you know, 6.2k.
[19:16.800 -> 19:22.600] So that'll be a nice little walk to get the blood flowing after the epic journey across
[19:22.600 -> 19:25.640] the pond from the UK. So yeah that's
[19:25.640 -> 19:29.360] what I'm gonna go today. I'm gonna go have a walk around the track and just go
[19:29.360 -> 19:33.320] chat with some of the teams and drivers and understand a bit of how their
[19:33.320 -> 19:37.120] simulation and prep work has been going for this weekend. And try and stay awake
[19:37.120 -> 19:40.680] till goodness knows when, midnight, because that's when the session's gonna be.
[19:40.680 -> 19:45.040] Well I didn't get the invite for the opening ceremony.
[19:50.880 -> 19:57.200] So if anyone's listening who's going to the opening ceremony who's got a plus one, Karun's available. Nice one. Karun, thank you very much, really appreciate your time, enjoy your day in
[19:57.200 -> 20:02.080] Vegas. I'm sure there's gonna be plenty to dissect next week so we'll be back next Tuesday to look
[20:02.080 -> 20:09.520] back at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Hope you can join us then. Bye for now.