Verstappen: Tyre Warm-Up Will Define Red Bull's Las Vegas Test

Max Verstappen has identified tyre warm-up in Las Vegas' cold conditions as Red Bull's decisive factor at next weekend's grand prix. Track temperatures are expected to sit between 10 and 12 degrees Celsius, making the smooth street circuit prone to sliding, graining and uneven tyre temperatures rather than the heat build-up drivers rely on at grippier tracks.

Why it matters:

Las Vegas is one of F1's most unpredictable weekends because cars can behave very differently from session to session. For Red Bull, low-grip, cold-track layouts have traditionally exposed a weakness: the team is stronger at preserving tyres in hot conditions than generating immediate grip. Verstappen won in Las Vegas from second on the grid in 2024, but he is wary of reading too much into that result.

The details:

• Verstappen said he has "no idea" whether Red Bull will be the team to beat, calling Vegas "so different and so difficult for everyone to understand."
• The long straight adds a separate challenge tied to this year's energy deployment rules. Verstappen expects drivers to tuck in mid-straight to gain top speed.
• He suggested the track could resemble Monza in how useful slipstreaming becomes, but cold conditions remain the bigger variable.
• "It's normally not our best track because of that," he said. "But we'll see if we can get the tyres to work. That's the key, to be honest, around there."

What's next:

Red Bull's weekend will hinge on whether it can switch the tyres on quickly enough over one lap and a race stint. If it can, its straight-line efficiency and Verstappen's race craft could keep it in contention. If not, Las Vegas could become another unpredictable fight in which tyre behaviour, not outright pace, decides the order.