'No two laps will be the same' - Alonso predicts tricky Las Vegas weekend

Fernando Alonso reckons that no two laps of the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend will feel the same for drivers as the unusual surface grips up.

The Strip itself has been resurfaced ahead of Grand Prix racing's return to Sin City, but public roads make up other sections of the track - which will be open to the public throughout the day with F1's sessions all set to run at least six hours after sunset.

This has the knock-on effect of lower temperatures which will make it harder to generate heat in the tyres, which when added with the 1.2-mile blast down Las Vegas Boulevard - the Strip -, the low downforce settings set to be employed and heavy braking zones makes for a tricky combination.

There is also no support series for F1 in Vegas, with Alonso believing the track evolution will be vast.

"It is a street circuit, very low downforce, and just getting that confidence into the car, in the braking areas will be very important," Alonso told media including RacingNews365.

"With the condition of the track and not having any support races, I think the amount of track evolution during the weekend, is going to be bigger than normal.

"So that will challenge everyone, I guess we will not have two laps the same on the weekend.

"Every lap of the track will be a little bit better than the lap before, from FP1 to the last lap of the race, so we will have to adapt to that changeable grip, so it's going be a challenge for everyone."

Alonso returned to the podium last time out in Sao Paulo with a third-place finish - which is just Aston Martin's second since the summer break.

However, Alonso is not expecting a repeat this weekend, owing to a season-long weakness with the AMR23 package - exploited at the similar Monza track.

"Here 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 as well," he said.

"So let's see how it goes here. I think it's going to be a tough weekend, maybe for us, with these long straights and so on."