Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has explained Mercedes’ temperature advantage in Las Vegas after Lewis Hamilton secured the top spot in both Free Practice sessions. Wolff revealed that the W15 F1 car has been known to display a dominant pace in cold conditions.
Hamilton showcased a staggering pace as no other driver came within a second of his FP1 lap time during a session where track temperatures peaked at 14°C.
The Briton clocked an impressive 1:35.001 on soft tires, with his teammate George Russell securing second place, albeit four-tenths slower. In FP2, the seven-time world champion continued his strong performance, topping the timesheets again with a 1:33.825 lap.
Admitting that Mercedes is the “dirty track” champion, the Mercedes chief described the margin in FP1 as something he had never seen before in Free Practice. He said:
“I think we are dirty track champions.
“FP1 is always great and then the moment the grip kicks in, we’ve seen that the performances deteriorate.
“Having said that, I think the gap was pretty big. It’s the biggest that we’ve seen so far in FP1, so we’ve got to spray some dust for all the sessions tomorrow, in qualifying or something.
“But I don’t believe this kind of advantage to the other teams is going to last. I would very much hope that we’re not falling behind like we did in the past on some of the tracks, but remain competitive, fight in the front.”
Despite George Russell finishing third in FP2, with McLaren’s Lando Norris splitting the two Mercedes drivers, the Brackley outfit is anticipated to remain a dominant force in the Grand Prix on the Strip, given the expected similarity in race temperatures.
Wolff emphasized the W15’s exceptional performance in cooler conditions, drawing parallels to their victories at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone, both of which took place under chilly weather. Speaking to F1TV, he elaborated on the connection between low temperatures and the car’s success, reinforcing confidence in their performance for the race this weekend.
“It was a pretty good start.
“We’ve been quick in some of the early sessions during the weekends when there is not a lot of grip so if we can continue to be among the frontrunners tomorrow that would be great.
“It suits our car better the cold; Spa was cold and Silverstone was cold.”
He added:
“But, it’s not entirely high-speed here but there are a few traction-limited slow corners. This will be key for us to manage that.”
