© Getty ImagesWhat Happens In VegasMagic Under The Lights
You’veallheardtheexpression,“whathappensinVegasstaysinVegas",butwe’remorethanhappyforthewholeworldtoknowwehadanotherstrongshowingin‘TheEntertainmentCapitaloftheWorld”withYukipickingupacoupleofpointsforninthplace.
After Formula One’s first visit to Nevada last year, everyone knew what to expect, which meant that thick jackets, woolly hats and gloves were the order of the day in the paddock. Glitz and glamour were not lacking however, with Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose visiting our garage on race day, amongst a flurry of other well-known names. Our VCARB-01 ran another stunning glitter car livery, in partnership with Cash App, nodding to the Cash App Visa Glitter Card; a the theme that also carried over to our team kit for the weekend. Underneath the glitter, the magic continued as we brought some rear end mechanical and aero updates on the VCARB 01, thanks to plenty of hard work back in Faenza and Bicester.
Ready to Roll© Getty Images
We got off to a shaky start in Thursday’s first free practice session, but a raft of set-up changes in time for the second hour saw an encouraging step forward, with Yuki tenth fastest and Liam, on his debut at this challenging high speed street circuit, a few places back in 15th. With a nine hour time difference to Italy, our remote engineering crew back in Faenza had to work some strange hours, but they and the team at the track definitely found something overnight, improving our understanding of the upgrades, which allowed Yuki to produce one of his best qualifying performances of the year to claim an impressive seventh spot on the grid, squeezed between the championship leading McLarens! Liam struggled to find grip, got through to Q2 and a 15th place grid slot.
Fierce Fights© Getty Images
Liam had a good first stint in Saturday night’s Grand Prix, making up a couple of places for a while, but struggled more with car balance and tyre grip and found himself in traffic, eventually crossing the finish line in 16th spot. As for Yuki, after losing a place to Lewis Hamilton who was charging up the order to finish second, he led the midfield for most of the race, with a great tyre change from the crew seeing him jump Pierre Gasly in the Alpine in the pits, but with just five laps to go, he had to give best to Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas and settle for ninth.
And speaking of Haas and Alpine, our three-way battle in the Constructors’ Championship is really hotting up. Before the race in São Paulo we were 11 points away from sixth place and now the gap is down to just five. It’s all building up to a nail-biting two-race climax over the next two weekends in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, where the team will give it their all for the final push.
Shining Under Pressure© Getty Images