Las Vegas Strip Circuit

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit is a street circuit around parts of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, immediately adjacent to Las Vegas, Nevada. It winds through the streets of the city and comprises the Las Vegas Strip, a section of Las Vegas Boulevard that is home to the city's major hotels and casinos. It incorporates some of the most notable landmarks of the city, including the Sphere, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, and Paris Las Vegas.

Designed by Carsten Tilke, the son of Formula One circuit designer Hermann Tilke, the circuit broke ground in March 2022 and opened on November 16, 2023, during the weekend of the first Las Vegas Grand Prix.

History
This circuit has been designed to incorporate part of Las Vegas Boulevard, widely known as the Las Vegas Strip. The cars pass several local landmarks that are illuminated at night. The city has given Formula One permission to use the roads required for the race for ten years. When the race was announced in March 2022, the track layout featured 14 corners. It was later revised with the addition of a chicane, bringing the number of corners to 17.

Layout
The 3.853 mi street circuit runs counterclockwise and features 17 corners and a 1.2 mi straight. It starts in a former parking lot which has been bought by Formula One for $240 million and developed into the pits and paddock area, and now contains permanent part of the circuit. The first corner is a hairpin, and after that the course bends slightly left and then into a fast right, transitioning from the permanent circuit to city streets. The cars go 0.5 mi down Koval Lane before entering a slow 90-degree right turn and then entering a long, sweeping left turn which encircles the new Sphere arena, before going through a left–right twisty section (a change from the initial design) and then a slightly faster-left turn which transitions onto Sands Avenue. The track then goes through two high-speed bends on Sands Avenue before entering a slow left turn onto Las Vegas Boulevard, otherwise known as the Las Vegas Strip. The 1.2 mi flat-out section with two straights and a slight sweeping left curve goes past some of Las Vegas's most famous hotels and casinos. The circuit then goes through a tight series of three slow corners onto Harmon Avenue, down a 0.5 mi straight before going through a fast left bend to complete the lap and transition back to the permanent part of the circuit after the pits.

The maximum speed recorded in a Formula One car during the race was 350.5 km/h, established at the end of the Las Vegas Strip.

Alleged attempt to prevent circuit certification
On March 5, 2024, several months after the inaugural 2023 race at the track, the BBC reported that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had allegedly tried to pressure race officials into not certifying the circuit in time for the race. This came the day after it was announced that Sulayem had also been placed under FIA investigation for allegedly persuading stewards to overturn a penalty given to Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Events
The main event that is held at this circuit is the annual Las Vegas Grand Prix in Formula One.

Lap records
As of November 2023, the fastest official race lap record at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit is listed as: