F1 pundit explains why Ferrari could be the team to watch out for at the Las Vegas GP

F1 pundit Peter Windsor believes Ferrari will be particularly strong at the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix given the colder temperature and long straights in the circuit layout.

It is being reported that the track surface will be very smooth and the colder track temperature accompanied by lower downforce levels will be an advantage for the Italian team.

On his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor spoke about the inherent straight-line advantage Ferrari hold over their competitors in the current SF-23 and how they performed with low downforce wings in Monza and Singapore. He said:

“I think Ferrari will be strong. I was talking to a couple of engineers and they all said Monza-spec almost in terms of wings [and] downforce level. A lot of straights. So on that basis – not just because Ferrari went well at Monza but because, as we know, Ferrari [are] pretty good, in a straight line, pretty good [at] high-speed braking, pretty good functional race car, assuming they’re reliable – they should go quite well around Vegas.

“They did a good job at Monza and in Singapore. With those long-ish straights and an emphasis on high-speed braking, if you’ve got that then you’ve got quite a lot of the Singapore lap sorted. It could well be the same in Vegas."

Ferrari engineer cautiously optimistic heading into the Las Vegas GP

Ferrari Senior Performance Engineer Jock Clear has stated that he is cautiously optimistic that they will be strong this weekend in Las Vegas given the track configuration.

Speaking with RacingNews365, Clear said that he is confident but a bit hesitant to term themselves as the favorites given the tricky nature of the SF-23. He said:

"Las Vegas is going to be a good one. All our indications are that it is going to be a low downforce circuit, and as such, we are confident that we can be competitive there, but [we still have] a tricky car.

"In a race, you can't operate in a narrow window because the race is long, temperatures change, the tyres, and you need a bit of a broader operating window to have a really good race. That is where Red Bull's strength is - their operating window is very wide."

It would be fascinating to see how the Italian team performs this weekend as it would be a pretty good opportunity for them to notch up yet another race win in the 2023 season having previously won in Singapore.