‘We Didn’t Know the Hards Would Get to the End!’ – Inside Kimi’s Super Saturday in Vegas

“He drove very well, and he has a good feel for what the tyres can handle,” Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin said in the team’s Akkodis Las Vegas GP race debrief.

“But when we decided on that strategy [pre-race], we didn’t know the Hards would go all the way to the finish, because we didn’t have enough data from Friday.”

Barring any Safety Cars, the Las Vegas Grand Prix was always predicted to be a one-stop, though few would have forecasted that one visit to the pits coming at the end of lap two.

In a number of topics discussed on the Akkodis Las Vegas GP race debrief, Shov added: “It was either going to be two Hard tyres or one.

“He knew that the fronts would have a difficult time, but the rears were in good shape, and he was actually able to use the throttle a bit to turn the car and the fronts and easier time.”

By the time every other driver on the grid had made their stop at the end of lap 30, Kimi was fourth on the road, ahead of both Ferraris, and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

“At that point we were just basing it on lap times,” said Shov.

“We kept seeing him doing green [faster] times, and thought ‘why come in?’

“The decision was then taken to keep him out and see if we could hold up those behind.

“He did a brilliant job to defend from Piastri behind, and it was a great job to bring it home.”

While holding off Piastri on track was important, it had been rendered somewhat inconsequential by the existence of an overhanging five-second penalty (to be applied at the end of the race) for Kimi, which he had picked up for a start-line infringement.

P4 on the road was to become P5 at the chequered flag, but that too was in danger from Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, who would inherit the position (and two extra championship points) if he finished within five seconds of the Italian.

Another big ask, given the Monegasque’s tyres were 22 laps fresher. At the flag, with penalty applied, Kimi’s final margin over Leclerc was 0.1 seconds.

Fine margins, that would have a big implication when P5 became P3 hours after the race.

In the final 11 laps of the Grand Prix, Kimi had set a faster lap time than the Ferrari on nine occasions, extending his advantage on track by 3.6 seconds.

Kimi’s reward is a third career F1 podium and second in as many races after his P2 at Interlagos, where he also faced a stressful final few laps holding off a charging Max Verstappen.

The phrase ‘Tyre Whisperer’ is used a lot in modern F1, but Kimi revealed post-race he was in dialogue with his wheels in the final few laps.

“I was talking to the tyres in the last 20 laps, every lap on the straight!” he said.

The result also ensured the team maximised its grip on P2 in the Constructors’ standings, avoiding a four-point swing to Ferrari.

With two race weekends remaining in the season, the gap to Red Bull in third is now 40 points, with the Scuderia a further 13 back in fourth.

Stay tuned to the team’s social media channels to watch the Akkodis Las Vegas GP race debrief in full.