Lewis Hamilton will have plenty of work to do from 10th on the grid to secure a podium finish at the Las Vegas Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton will have plenty of work to do from 10th on the grid to secure a podium finish at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc will line up on pole position in Sin City ahead of Max Verstappen, who will equal Sebastian Vettel’s tally of 53 victories if he manages to win today.

Hamilton, meanwhile, will need to find another level of performance to redeem himself after his early exit in yeseterday’s qualifying session. The 38-year-old has been unable to make the most of Mercedes’ pace in Las Vegas so far, with George Russell having fared much better on the other side of the garage.

He went on to suggest that tyre degradation could swing proceedings in his favour over the course of today’s race, saying: “I’m sliding round a lot but tomorrow’s gonna be really interesting, we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re all on low wing so there’s going to be a lot of deg.

“There may be more deg than we know, no one’s driven the hard tyre yet. It’s going to be a long race, it’s going to be about managing the degradation. It’s going to be super tough. It’s a short run down to Turn One and I’m in the thick of it so not the best place to be.”