Mercedes driver George Russell believes the track will be a “disaster” in what is shaping up to be a very chaotic start to the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc will begin the race in pole position and is joined on the front row by world champion Max Verstappen, with Russell just behind them in third.
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However, the order of the starting grid could easily be thrown out the window within a few laps as Russell expects plenty of drivers to deal with tyre graining issues.
Graining occurs when the tyres are lower than the optimal temperature, causing parts of the tyre to rip off and stick to itself which reduces grip.
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Given the temperature in Vegas at the time of race is expected to be around 15 degrees celcius, drivers will have to work overtime to get their tyres heated up.
Russell described the element of graining as the “biggest unknown” going into the Vegas race.
“If you can stay within the threshold of not graining, a one-stop (strategy) will be comfortable,” Russell said.
“But as soon as you start graining the tyres, you have to pit. And I don’t think we’ve done more than 12 laps without graining the tyres.
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“So that’s going to be the big challenge.”
The Brit knows that if he tries to manage the tyres he could easily get caught from behind by his rivals, but has been told by his team which corners will be best to manage them.
But Russell conceded one team already seems to have figured out the graining issue before the race has even started as the grid gears up for a wild start to the race.
“Ferrari look in a league of their own,” Russell said.
“They haven’t had any graining, and they’ve been super-fast on the high fuel.
“But equally as the track grips up, maybe we’ll see graining in stint one, but you won’t see it in stint two and three, because the track is probably going to be three seconds quicker in the last laps, compared to the early laps. Probably even more.
“Because we’ve got no support series, no nothing. The track’s going to be a disaster in the first five laps of the race.”
STARTING GRID FOR LAS VEGAS GP
1st: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2nd: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3rd: George Russell (Mercedes)
4th: Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
5th: Alexander Albon (Williams)
6th: Logan Sargeant (Williams)
7th: Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
8th: Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
9th: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
10th: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
11th: Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
12th: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
13th: Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
14th: Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri)
15th: Lando Norris (McLaren)
16th: Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
17th: Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
18th: Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
19th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
20th: Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
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