The Las Vegas Grand Prix will be an important weekend for Aston Martin as it understands its latest package with a view to 2024.
After a rapid start to the year, which saw Fernando Alonso net six podiums in the opening eight races, the Silverstone-based squad experienced a downturn.
An upgrade package introduced for the United States Grand Prix failed to fire, while the Mexico City Grand Prix a week later also left the team scratching its head.
However, fortunes improved at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last time out, with Alonso getting the better of Sergio Perez in an epic late-race duel to secure third at the flag.
But while an encouraging performance, Alonso isn’t allowing himself to get too carried away.
“I think we have to wait and see a few races,” he said when asked if the Interlagos result was evidence of Aston Martin unlocking the pace of the AMR23 once more.
“I think [Las Vegas] and Abu Dhabi will be as important as Sao Paulo for us in terms of understanding the car.
“Austin and Mexico were very painful, but they were also very useful for the team in terms of understanding for next year’s car.”
This weekend’s event is a step into the unknown for all teams.
While all have the track layout in their simulators and have been able to make some broad-stroke preparations, they don’t have real-world data on the track surface itself.
Aston Martin has sent staff out to visit the venue before the weekend, but even that is of limited value.
Adding further complication is the weekend schedule, with opening practice set to take place at 20:30 local time while qualifying begins at midnight.
The late start times will make for a cool track and is expected to have a significant impact on tyres.
Which teams master that will likely be a key performance differentiator rather than inherent car pace.
“I think we have to run first and then see how the car behaves, and the tyre behaves,” Alonso said of the predicted low temperatures.
“I think it could be that, with this long straight, the tyres, they lose a little bit of temperature.
“We’ve been facing a little bit of tyre overheating on the last three events, and maybe here it’s a little bit the opposite.
“Maybe some cars that they’re struggling on long run pace, here they are good because they can keep the tyres in the window and things like that.
“So I think tomorrow we’ll we will have some answers.”
Opening practice begins at 20:30 local time on Thursday night, affording the tarmac four hours to cool following sunset.
Temperatures are forecast to be around 17 degrees when cars take to the track for opening practice, though the track temps will likely be south of that.
Conditions are only predicted to drop two degrees for Free Practice 2 and are set to be largely stable between Thursday and Friday.
However, temperatures are tipped to drop slightly for the start of the race, with a predicted 13 degrees as the lights go out at midnight on Saturday.
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