STRATEGY CORNER: What does Pirelli expect from the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Lando Norris will start the third Las Vegas Grand Prix from pole position, having been fastest in a thrilling qualifying session run entirely in the wet. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers his strategy prediction.
With overnight rain followed by more precipitation in the morning, the track was too wet for slicks at the start of the final free practice session, with all 20 drivers first venturing out on Intermediates.
The cold conditions meant the still-green track took a long time to dry. Norris was the first to attempt running the Softs after around half an hour, but it was not until the final 20 minutes that a dry line began to appear and the C5 was finally viable.
Rain intensified before the start of qualifying which forced drivers to run the full wet tyres in Q1. The rain stopped in time for Q2, but the remaining drivers were all still on full wets.
With around 5 minutes of this session remaining, Lance Stroll was the first to venture out on Intermediates, but it was clear there was not enough of a dryer line for them to work effectively. For Q3, the track was finally dry enough for Intermediates.
Commenting on the tricky qualifying session, Pirelli's Motorsport Director Mario Isola noted: “One would never have expected to witness a wet qualifying in the middle of a desert, but Las Vegas continues to surprise us.
"This afternoon’s free practice provided information that would prove useful for the teams, as over 30% of the laps were run on rain tyres, but clearly it was not enough to have an immediate understanding of what would be the best compound with which to start qualifying.
"After a first run on Intermediates, it soon became clear that conditions required the use of Full Wets. The extreme rain tyres ensured the drivers had good grip for their first flying laps before the track began to dry, allowing for a switch to the Intermediates.
"The crossover time between these and the Full Wets established in today’s Free Practice is important information if the same conditions are repeated for the start of the Grand Prix."
For the third consecutive year, the compounds chosen for the Las Vegas street circuit are the C3, C4 and C5.
Pirelli expects that the soft tyres will hardly play any role during the race as it suffered from a relatiely high level of graining across the practice sessions.
On paper, the quickest combination is based on a one-stop. It would see drivers start on the Medium, then switch to the Hard between laps 20 and 26, to then go for a long final stint.
However, the Milan-based manufacturer does not rule out the feasibility of a two-stop strategy. "Fitting the yellow-banded tyres for the grid also opens up other competitive options.
"Teams that have kept two sets of Hards could attempt a two-stopper, Medium-Hard-Hard, switching between laps 12 and 18 and again between laps 27 and 33. A similar alternative for the few left with two sets of the yellow-banded tyres would be to run two initial stints on Medium and then Hard, with a final return to the Medium between laps 32 and 38," added Isola.
