Lewis Hamilton dismisses ‘jet lag’ worries as Las Vegas GP week kicks off

Lewis Hamilton was the notable exception on a night when numerous F1 drivers voiced their concerns about jet lag and the demanding end of season schedule.

This weekend’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in the heart of Sin City takes place a week prior to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, 8,000 miles away.

F1 has a record 24-race calendar next season but even with this year totalling 22, Max Verstappen was among a number of drivers critical of the end of the season travel across the world.

Yet Hamilton, speaking in the pre-race press conference in Vegas on Wednesday, insisted he feels ‘great’ ahead of the final two races of the season.

“I personally haven’t found it [jet lag] a problem,” the seven-time world champion said.

“Still manage to keep training and I feel great. I saw some of the drivers complaining about jet lag… but I’ve not found it a problem since I’ve been here.

“It is demanding but we know that entering the sport. If it was easy, we wouldn’t do it.”

Three-time world champion Verstappen had earlier criticised the schedule as the 2023 season draws to a close. Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon were among the other drivers admitting to struggling with their sleep.

“It’s already a 12-hour difference but also a completely different timezone because basically we live on a Japanese time schedule [in Vegas] but then almost on a different day,” Verstappen said.

“I don’t really get that. That is very tiring.

“It’s the end of the season that we have to do this, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense.”

Verstappen also lambasted Wednesday’s lavish opening ceremony outside the new $500m pit building.

All 20 drivers were introduced via lifts onto a string of podiums, concluding a half-an-hour show which included a drone sequence and a number of musical performances from the likes of Kylie Minogue, John Legend and Steve Aoki.

Lando Norris also revealed he was “not a big fan” of the opening ceremony festivities, while Carlos Sainz believes the sport should soon look at the overall race weekend schedule due to it being “overpacked” with commitments for the drivers.

Practice at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit starts at 4:30am on Friday morning (GMT). The race starts at 6am on Sunday morning in the UK, which is 10pm on Saturday night in Vegas.