Five Things We Learned from the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix

After all the buzz about Formula 1's first trip to Nevada in four decades, the Las Vegas GP is done and dusted.

Not even the false start of FP1 could take the shine off a memorable weekend for the sport racing under the neon glow.

We head to Abu Dhabi without picking up any points, but we still learned plenty from our time in the Mojave Desert — here are our favourite five.

Although the Saturday race didn't go our way, our pace in Friday night's qualifying session was nothing short of sensational.

A third-row lockout felt like we had drawn two aces after Alex surged to P6 and Logan P7 before Carlos Sainz's grid penalty promoted us further.

We've enjoyed reaching qualifying's final session more and more over the past couple of years, but seeing two Williams Racing cars competing in Q3 isn't so regular an occurrence.

We maximised the mixed conditions at Zandvoort earlier this year, but Friday was our first dry-weather double Q3 appearance since the 2017 Azerbaijan GP after those scintillating laps from our duo.

Seeing Formula 1 racing down one of the world's most iconic streets was quite a sight, but the Las Vegas Strip wasn't solely for racing.

Our ever-popular Fan Zone returned for a final hurrah, and what a showing we had at the New York-New York Hotel with so many of you coming to the 'Brooklyn Bridge' to say hi.

As always, your support blew away all of our guests, with Alex, Logan, James, Jenson, and Jamie all popping in to answer your questions, sign autographs, and take selfies.

Even outside of their visits, huge numbers came to check out the show car, jump in the sim rigs, and soak up all the other many activities on offer.

The FW45 has become something of a chameleon over the 2023 season, with various liveries hitting the track throughout the year.

We've raced with the Union Flag, the Stars & Stripes, and, of course, the striking Bolder than Bold Gulf livery at races and came to Vegas with another fresh look.

Somewhat like Alex's eye-catching helmet, our livery for the weekend paid homage to our host city and looked right at home among Las Vegas' lit-up casinos.

Bright lights, shining stars, and the famous 'Fabulous Las Vegas' sign all made it onto our engine cover for yet another head-turning 2023 livery from our designers.

New York may have songs claiming it's the city that never sleeps, but there's always something to do in Las Vegas, too.

Unfortunately for our race team, that something was a lot of waiting after the much-shortened FP1 session extended the already-late FP2 session well into the night.

Safety was, rightly, the priority for everyone, and the FIA's extensive checking of the track after FP1's loose drain cover issues ensured no one was hurt over the weekend.

Dawn was breaking as our crew made their way out of the paddock on the most unique of nights in the sport, and then they fixed Alex's damaged car to help secure our double Q3 the very next day.

What an incredible job from everyone.

Vegas captured many motorsport headlines this weekend, but racing wasn't limited to this city's streets.

The Williams Racing Driver Academy had two members in action, with Luke Browning hurtling around Macau and Lia Block rallying through Baja California.

Each took the win in their respective races, as Luke led from pole position in both Macau GP's qualifying race and the race without anyone else coming close.

Lia, our latest Academy recruit, took P1 in the Baja 1000's Pro Stock UTV race as the Block House Racing team pushed through 1310 miles of the Mexican wilderness.