Pirelli analyses: 'Tyres cooled off extremely on long straight'

A huge challenge the Las Vegas street circuit is not for the drivers: long straights and the occasional corner. What will complicate the Grand Prix, however, is tyre management. Indeed, it promises to get cold again on the particularly long straights late on Saturday night, causing the tyres to cool down considerably.

Mario Isola, ultimately responsible for tyre supplier Pirelli's F1 project, noticed after qualifying how much the tyres were cooling down. " Between 35 and 40 degrees at the front and between 20 and 25 degrees at the rear," the Italian told Auto, Motor und Sport. To give you an idea: in Baku - which also has a huge long straight - there is "only" a temperature loss of 30 degrees Celsius.

Pirelli expects a lot of graining

There were a few surprises during qualifying. For example, Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen came out on top because they managed to get their tyres in the right window and avoid graining. It hardly seems to take anything - a little too hard braking, a few slips - or the Pirelli tyres start to graze off (graining), with the immediate result being loss of grip. So in the race, limiting graining will become the main concern.

During the Grand Prix, drivers are required to use two different compounds. One compound anyway is going to cause the necessary problems, Pirelli expects. The softer the compound, the more graining occurs. "Only the hard tyre is somewhat consistent, but it takes too long to reach operating temperature," reports Isola. He therefore expects this tyre to be used only in the second stint at the earliest.