Ross Brawn has admitted that temperature was not initially considered when F1 was planning the next Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Until 2022, the legendary motorsport figure remained part of F1 management as Motorsport Managing Director, meaning he would have been involved in plans for a potential Las Vegas Grand Prix.
But after quitting his job and with just over a week left until the race, Brown admitted the cold weather wasn’t what he had originally planned.
Ross Brawn admits he overlooked temperature control at Las Vegas Grand Prix
To cater to the European audience, the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be held at 10pm local time, and considering it’s the end of the year and the fact that Las Vegas is located in the desert, the race is set to be one of the best. Coldest in F1 history.
Early forecasts suggest temperatures could drop as low as 4-5 degrees, meaning teams will have to consider other aspects, especially when it comes to tire warm-up.
Las Vegas is generally known for its hot weather, which may be why that element has slipped out of the normally thorough Brown’s mind.
“What we didn’t take into account initially, but the tire companies have taken care of, is that it gets very, very cold at night,” he told talkSPORT. “So during the race, on Saturday night, temperatures are known to drop to 3 or 4 degrees.
“So it can get really cold and of course it can be difficult to run a car in those temperatures.
“Tire companies have done some work to make sure their tires can cope with that.
“We’re definitely facing some new challenges that we’ve never had before, but I think it’s going to be great.”
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The Las Vegas circuit has 17 corners, but with three long straights, it can take teams more than a lap to light up their tires in qualifying. One team likely to struggle more than others is Mercedes, with trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin saying the expected temperatures are close to those seen in winter testing.
“It depends on exactly how cold it is,” he said.
“When a truck is down by single digits, it’s because that’s often the area where we do winter testing.
“When you run, it’s very difficult to switch on the tires and you can get graining and things like that. And sometimes you wait until it’s a little warmer. So when you actually race in those conditions, It will be interesting to see how they qualify.
“It’s just a matter of identifying the risks of the new circuit and considering whether there will be any contingencies and whether we need a particular vehicle spec to deal with them. And we’re experiencing that now.
“But like I said, when you’re at the frigid end of the forecast, it’s hard to know how the tires will perform.”
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