Sergio Perez has joked that he will ask Lewis Hamilton for some sleeping pills ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with many drivers suffering from jet lag in Sin City. The unique session timings are threatening to disrupt routines across the paddock due to the one-off structure of the weekend.
Although the race will be available to watch in the early hours of Sunday morning for UK viewers, it will be held on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Qualifying will take place less than 24 hours before in another night session, with many drivers already complaining about jet lag following their arrival in the United States.
Perez weighed in on the topic in Thursday’s press conference, which was held at 10pm local time, by joking that he would ask Hamilton for some sleeping tablets seeing as the Mercedes ace does not seem to be struggling with jet lag as much as his peers.
“We’ll ask Lewis for some of his pills, he seems to be the only one not suffering with it,” said Perez. “But no, for me, I’m used to it. I come from Mexico so I spent so much time on the jet lag so I’m used to it.”
Hamilton admitted earlier in the press conference that he was not feeling particularly affected by jet lag in Las Vegas despite many of his peers raising concerns about the issue.
“I personally have not found any problem,” said the Brit. “I’ve still managed to keep the training up and I feel great at this point in the yea I saw the drivers in there before all complaining about the jet lag. I mean, jet lag is something that’s probably can get all of us but I’ve not found it a problem since I’ve been here.
“It is demanding but we know that entering the sport, we know what a season entails. And there’s three back-to-backs, so definitely tough but if it was easy, everyone would do it.”
Fernando Alonso was among the drivers to highlight the jet lag problem earlier this week, although the Spaniard was quick to insist that difficult working conditions are simply part of the package in F1 as he said: “No, it’s not OK, it’s not OK, but it’s the way it is. It’s a tough sport. This is not football.”
Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, explained that he would be turning to caffeine in order to help him stay alert before jumping in the cockpit for the first Las Vegas Grand Prix in over 40 years.
“I think come Friday, Saturday, Sunday, caffeine shots, espressos, or adrenaline of driving an F1 car normally removes the jet lag,” said the Ferrari ace. “I struggle more these days, long Thursdays, this is where I start to struggle a bit more.”
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