Formula 1 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix are being urged to move the race earlier next year or drivers and people working at the event will be “wrecked”.
A constant criticism through the inaugural version of the modern Las Vegas GP was the late schedule, which was aggressive even by night race standards.
The race itself took place on Saturday evening at 10pm, which meant media day activities on Wednesday, free practice on Thursday and qualifying on Friday were all late-in-the-day affairs as well.
This was compounded by the lack of sleep and daytime fatigue so many F1 personnel, including drivers, suffered as a result of the jet lag from travelling to the west of the United States.
Complaints about working hours and awkward schedules are commonplace in F1, especially in recent years with later starts common. But it was worse than just the usual griping at the Vegas event, as many people were clearly badly affected.
The decision to delay the second practice session from a midnight start to a 2.30am Friday start, because of the disruption caused by the water valve cover that failed in FP1, only made things worse as personnel carried a sleep deficit through the remainder of the weekend.
Even Daniel Ricciardo, who spends a lot of time in the US and has been a big advocate of the Las Vegas race, felt this had taken an extreme toll, as “it’s kind of felt like a bit of a whirlwind since then”.
“I feel like I’ve been, or probably all of us, have been a little bit delirious and a little bit hallucinogenic,” he said.
‘WE WILL BE WRECKED’
Poleman Charles Leclerc felt the schedule was “a bit on the limit” and that there was “not much to change apart from the timing”.
Race winner and week-long critic Max Verstappen agreed while also flagging how it fits into the calendar.
This race comes at the end of the joint-longest season in history, as race 21 of 22, and forms an awkward double-header alongside Abu Dhabi that nobody in the paddock appreciates.
“At the moment it’s such a big time shift that, especially at the end of the season when everyone is already a bit tired, I think it’s a little bit much,” said the world champion.
“Maybe it would be ideal to find a different kind of date because I find that maybe we need to do more of an American tour.
“Maybe for ticket sales, I don’t know if that’s ideal. So maybe we can find a bit of a solution there.
“The 12-hour timezone shifts and also completely different timings for racing also is a bit much.”
Next year, Las Vegas kicks off a much-hated planned triple-header at the end of a 24-race calendar.
From Vegas, F1 will travel to Qatar, then shuffle across to Abu Dhabi for the finale.
Ricciardo was not actually aware of this and believed Las Vegas was a standalone next year, so was shocked and disappointed when he was corrected.
“What!? No way!” he exclaimed. “Alright…OK! Uh, yeah, that does not have my vote.
“Now, knowing that, they need to bring it forward, because we will be wrecked, especially at the end of the season.
“I’ve done like six races, and I already feel it. So yeah, hopefully they can make something work.”
It was not clear whether Ricciardo was advocating bringing the race weekend forward, as there is enough of a gap from the previous race in Brazil to make it a standalone, or just the race schedule itself so the weekend runs a little more kindly.
