Verstappen calls the shots with Pirelli – Formula One is on the cusp of equalling one of its longest held records. In 1976 for eight consecutive race weekends between Long Beach and the Nurburgring, the pole sitter went on to win the race. Since the summer break, this has been the case this season meaning a repeat in Sin City will equal that record.
The tyres will be key in the cold desert evening with Mercedes expected to do well given their car operates best in these conditions. Conversely McLaren who have dominated much of the year have less expectations.
The MCL39 handles its tyres better than the rest of the field when temperatures are high, but this means their drivers will struggle to get the tyres up to temperature with the track hovering around just 7 degrees celsius.
Low grip Vegas problems
In previous editions of the Grand Prix, the tyres have suffered with graining which happens in low grip conditions when the tyre slides across the track surface of the asphalt instead of gripping it. This sliding action tears tiny bits of rubber off the tyre, but instead of flying away, they stick back onto the tyre, forming a rough, bobbled texture.
Often graining is a temporary phenomenon and over several laps a driver may work through it as the surface then cleans up returning the tyre to its more grippy state. However, the softer the tyre the more likely it is to grain when the grip is low.
Pirelli developed an extra compound for 2025 softer than all the rest and is known as the C6. It was hoped this tyre would deliver for the drivers in qualifying but its swift degradation meant it was primarily for use on Saturday afternoons rather than in the Grand Prix.
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Yet the C6 tyre which was used in Monaco, Imola, Canada and Baku has come in for a fair amount of criticism because it degraded too quickly, not offering peak performance for even one lap. Further, it performance is marginally better than the slightly softer C5 but its rapid degradation means the C5 is a better tyre for qualifying and racing.
Speaking in Azerbaijan, a frustrated Max Verstappen decided to give Pirelli some advice over their tyre compound selection. “That soft tyre [C6] is slower from the start of the lap. It’s just an inferior tyre. I think I should have a conversation with Pirelli at some point and tell them to just leave that tyre at home, because it makes the whole weekend very tricky.
“Look, if the tyre doesn’t work here… it didn’t work in Monaco, it didn’t work in Imola, and in Montreal it didn’t work either. Then you’re really better off leaving it at home,” concluded the quadruple world champion.
Pirelli bend to Verstappen’s suggestion
In Imola Williams team boss James Vowles expressed a similar sentiment. “The car’s been pretty good all weekend, but that soft tyre [C6] is tricky… We didn’t really get a lap out of it.” The key to getting the best out of the C6 is the preparation lap prior to the qualifying push lap as Pirelli’s director of motorsport, Mario Isola, observed.
“The C6 compound was doing its job,” he insisted in Azerbaijan. “The C6 is very close to the C5, but it is different in terms of behaviour. Teams struggle to understand completely the C6. … If you are able to find the peak of performance of the C6, you get an advantage.”
“Sometimes it is difficult,” conceded Isola. “I understand the comments from Max. They are not very different from what we have analysed, so I don’t disagree with him. It was still the quickest, but sometimes more difficult to use for the drivers. It’s a little bit more peaky or unpredictable…”
2026 F1 tyres ‘better mechanical grip’
Las Vegas would have been a prime target for Pirelli to use the new C6 compound with its cold ambient temperatures and low grip conditions. Yet it appears the Italian rubber manufacturer have listed to Verstappen’s suggestion and ‘left the tyre at hime.’
Pirelli have brought the C5, C4 and the C3 to Nevada, justifying the decision by stating: “This year’s tyres have improved mechanical properties,” said the tyre manufacturer in a press release. These improvements should mitigate the graining issues seen before in Vegas, most particularly in the inaugural running of the event in 2023.
“The decision not to go for a softer trio was down to the risk of graining, prevalent since the first edition of this race, which could excessively compromise the efficiency of the softest compound in the current range,” the Pirelli statement concluded.
For a number of reasons, the track times will be two hours earlier in Vegas this year which means the temperatures should be higher than in previous visits. This too will assist the grip formed from the tyres, although the proof of the pudding will be the the cars hit the track on Thursday night.
Earlier track times in Sin City
Having negotiated two years of running the Grand Prix amongst suspicious residents, F1 was confident when asking to bring forward the track session times there would be little resistance. This will boost the TV audience particularly on the east coast and it allows the spectators to enjoy the night spots of Vegas after the cars have finished, rather than heading straight to bed after midnight.
Starting earlier creates less of a logistical problem with late night disruption on the Strip and is said to be preferred boy local businesses who need to get employees to and from work.
The drivers are used to time zone adjustments and so to them it matters little, given just four days after the Sin City chequered flag, they will arrive in Qatar which is an eleven hour time shift.
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Malaysian GP return – Unlike the middle eastern countries which now collectively form just under 20% of the F1 calendar, Malaysia has a rich history in motorsport. Much of the racing, motorcycles and formula libre was held at the Thompson Road Circuit in Singapore before its bid for independence in 1965.
Following independence, Malaysia then hosted a variety of racing series at the Shah Alam circuit between 1968 and 1995 including Tasman Formula, Formula Atlantic, Formula Two and Formula Pacific.
Then as part of a series of major infrastructure projects in the 1990’states, the Sepang International Circuit was built close to Putrajaya the newly founded administrative capital of the country with a view to hosting Formula One….. READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
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