The Las Vegas Strip Circuit™: Turn-By-Turn

Start/Finish Straight
The 3.85-mile (6,201-meter) Las Vegas Strip Circuit™ starts and finishes at Grand Prix Plaza, a 39-acre complex housing the Las Vegas Grand Prix Pit Building, a state-of-the-art, 300,000-square-foot facility that spans the length of three American football fields. Fans in the Paddock Club, Heineken Silver Main Grandstand and Skybox have prime views of the action along the start-finish straight, including pre-race ceremonies on the grid, the exhilarating “lights out” start, and the checkered flag after 50 thrilling laps.

Turn 1
Located just 218 yards (200 meters) from the starting grid, the hairpin Turn 1 witnessed opening lap drama in 2023. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc at the start — but only after both drivers ran wide. Behind them, Fernando Alonso spun his Aston Martin in the middle of the pack and Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez collided. Further back, Carlos Sainz spun his Ferrari after tagging Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.

Turns 2-4
Accelerating through this sequence, from 100 to 145mph (160 to 233 kph), the track weaves left then right around Turn 3 Club before the short straight down Koval Lane. Drivers shift from third to sixth gear through this sequence. Last year, Lewis Hamilton executed a daring early-race pass around the outside of Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri here. Following the exit of Turn 4 is the first of two DRS zones, which races past the South Koval Zone by Heineken and the Flamingo Zone by Caesars Rewards further down the straight.

Turn 5G
At the end of the Koval Straightaway, drivers brake sharply for the second gear, 65 mph (104 kph) right-hander of Turn 5G, as the drivers enter the festival-like atmosphere of the T-Mobile Zone at Sphere. Spectators in the grandstands at Turn 5G saw Alex Albon hit the wall in FP3 last year, bringing out the red flag. Brave drivers can complete an overtake into the left-hander. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri made a bold pass on Pierre Gasly’s Alpine for third place after a Safety Car restart on lap 29 of the Grand Prix.

Turns 6-8
Fans in the T-Mobile Zone at Sphere will watch cars accelerate into the long left-hander at Turn 6, reaching eighth gear at speeds approaching 160 mph (257 kph). The slow-speed Turn 7-8 chicane follows, where mistakes are common as it’s difficult for drivers to pick out the breaking point. Esteban Ocon is one of the few who made a successful overtake here, overtaking Logan Sargeant on the inside for sixth place on lap 14.

Turn 9
Drivers exit Turn 9 and accelerate onto Sands Avenue under the glow of the Exosphere, which displayed a checkered flag animation on the final lap in 2023. During the inaugural race, Lewis Hamilton made a move past a struggling Alex Albon at Turn 9 during an entertaining scrap for 11th place.

Turns 10-11
These corners are taken flat-out in eighth gear, snaking between legendary Las Vegas resorts Wynn Las Vegas and The Venetian. At Turn 11’s apex, speeds reach approximately 180 mph (289 kph) before drivers brake hard for the left-hander at Turn 12, just before turning onto the iconic Las Vegas Boulevard.

Turn 12
In 2023, the Safety Car was deployed after just three racing laps when Lando Norris made a mistake and lost control of his McLaren on the approach to this quick left-hander. Later, Max Verstappen and George Russell collided, causing another Safety Car deployment. A good exit from this turn is critical for the long blast down The Strip that follows.

Turn 13
The high-speed kink of Turn 13, located a third of the way down the neon-lit Strip, precedes the second DRS zone on the circuit. Dazzling landmarks like the Flamingo, The Fountains of Bellagio and the Paris adorn the 1.2-mile straight that follows Turn 13, the second longest straight on the F1 calendar. Fans in the Caesars Palace Experience will witness the fastest section of the circuit here, as cars blast by at speeds exceeding 210 mph (337 kph).

Turn 14
Turn 14 witnessed several scraps for the lead during the inaugural race. On lap 16, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc overtook Max Verstappen for first place at Turn 14. On lap 32, Sergio Perez passed Leclerc for the lead — only for the Ferrari driver to reclaim it back three laps later. Finally, Verstappen retook P1 from Leclerc on lap 37 to secure victory in the inaugural Las Vegas race. But Turn 14 had one final twist, when Leclerc made a thrilling last-lap pass on Sergio Perez to secure second place to the delight of the onlooking fans. Leclerc experienced 7G in deceleration force during the lunge, earning the 2023 Overtake of the Year.

Turns 15-16
After Turn 14, drivers navigate two more apexes before the short sprint along East Harmon Avenue towards the final corner. In 2023, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri made contact here and both picked up tire punctures. With the pit lane entrance situated just after the West Harmon Grandstand, it was on this approach that Piastri littered the track in a shower of sparks in his attempt to pit for a fresh set of tires.

Turn 17
The final corner of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit™ is a flat-out, left-hander taken at full throttle at 195 mph (313 kph). Lewis Hamilton made an audacious overtake here, going wheel-to-wheel through the apex alongside Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, securing ninth place just five laps before the checkered flag.