Speaking to the media in Las Vegas, Monaghan explained that the difference between the floor used in Mexico and the one in Brazil is “small.”

“If you have a used floor versus a new floor, that's almost worth as much as the slightly revised job. Don't forget it was a make-from floor that we took to Mexico, seeking a few more kilos of load.”

The British engineer also admitted that this approach could continue through to the end of the season: “We are split again, and it's a deliberate action. We are following what we think is the best pattern for each driver, and it may well continue all the way at the end of the season.”

When asked if Tsunoda was therefore running the floor used in Mexico, Monaghan chose to respond with a hint of irony: "There's a little challenge for you. I'm not going to make this too easy for you. You can try and pick the bones out of that one. I won't tell you where to look.”

Finally, Monaghan confirmed that the option to adjust the setup and switch the floor depending on conditions remains available: "We can do that if we want to do. Once given the resulting changes of the two floor types are quite small, if we're settled in FP1, we'll leave it for FP2."

Verstappen faced a challenging start to the Las Vegas weekend, mirroring the difficulties experienced by several drivers.

The Dutchman wrapped up the opening session in fourth place and slipped to ninth in the second, grappling with grip issues and struggling to string together a clean lap. In the end, he finished about half a second behind championship rival Lando Norris, who led the timing charts.