Underneath Vegas (2023 Grand Prix) Quiz

Answer: False

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was part of the world championship for Formula One. The race was held at night on a temporary street circuit. One of the reasons why the race was held at night was because the temperature would be significantly lower at night, which made it much easier for the drivers and the reliability of the cars.

Answer: Anticlockwise

The circuit runs anticlockwise, the same as in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Brazil. The street circuit consists of 17 corners and a long straight 1.9 km down the famous Las Vegas Strip. The circuit also has two other long straights. The race was run over fifty laps.

Answer: Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc got the pole position with a time of 1:32.726 in the final part of qualifying. Carlos Sainz finished in second place, with Max Verstappen in third place. Ferrari had been quick all through practice and in qualifying rounds one and two.

Answer: A loose manhole cover

The session was called off because Carlos Sainz ran over a manhole cover. The first practice had only been run for eight minutes when Carlos drove over the cover. His car came to a stop on the 17th corner. An on-board clip showed Carlos driving over a bump in the track, which caused quite a jolt, which in turn shut down his engine.

Answer: Lando Norris

It was a disastrous weekend for the McLaren driver, Lando Norris. In the final third practice, he could only manage 11th place, and in the first qualifying section, he finished up in 16th place and was eliminated. Starting at the back of the grid is always risky, as the chance of getting hit is high.

However, in Lando's case, this wasn't the problem. After the VSC had ended after a previous incident and the race continued, Lando seemed to hit a bump on the track, which put him in a spin, and he lost control, hit the concrete wall, careered down the escape road, and finished up at the barriers at Turn 12.

The combination of cold tyres and the bump in the road just made the situation worse, with no chance of recovery.

Answer: Oscar Piastri

Lewis was attempting to pass Oscar at Turn 14 but made contact. The collision caused both cars to get punctures. The problem for Lewis was that he didn't realise he had a puncture until he had passed the pits, so he had to drive a full lap to get back to the pits.

The stewards looked at the incident and said it was a racing incident and no further action was required. After the race, Lewis thought the puncture cost him around 40 seconds.

Answer: 16

Leclerc passed Verstappen on lap 16. Max was losing time with worn tyres, and Leclerc was catching up fast. Once in the range of the DRS, Leclerc used it to good effect, which enabled him to pass Max with ease. Max then pitted and served his five-second penalty for an incident on lap one when he and Leclerc went off track.

Answer: George Russell

Verstappen made the move on lap 25, at turn 12, but unfortunately George didn't see Max, and the pair collided, damaging Max's front wing. George accepted full blame for the incident and received a five-second penalty added after the race.

Answer: 42

Leclerc had been the master all day, with late braking manoeuvres allowing him to overtake the Red Bulls three times during the race. On lap 42, he out braked himself and ran wide at turn 12, and Perez took second place. Leclerc then chased after Perez, and even though he was in the range of the DRS, he struggled to make an impact. On the last lap, Leclerc had saved enough battery power for the final push. On the long straight, he built up speed, out-braked Perez, and dived to the inside, taking the second position. Perez chased all the way to the finish line but couldn't regain the place.

Answer: Oscar Piastri

Piastri came in to the pits on lap 42 for the mandatory tyre compound switch; this dropped him down to 11th position before Alex Albon overtook. On medium tyres, it didn't take long for Oscar to regain the place lost to Albon. With five laps to go, he started to close on Pierre Gasly, who at the time was 10 seconds ahead. With the new tyres, he soon caught up and passed Gasly, and at the same time, he posted the fastest time of the race, picking up two points in total.