F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix U-Turn confirmed amid Max Verstappen criticism

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Las Vegas GP U-Turn confirmed amid Max Verstappen criticism

Max Verstappen criticised Pirelli's tyre choice

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 14 October 2025 22:52

Pirelli have suggested that comments from four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen about their tyres have had no bearing on their U-turns at recent race weekends.

Verstappen has been critical about the softest tyre in F1 - the C6 - which was brought in especially for this year and is a step softer than the softest tyre last year.

However, many drivers have been opting to use the medium tyres during qualifying for races at which the C6 is present, with it seemingly not the optimal compound.

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At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Verstappen told Pirelli to leave the C6 tyre 'at home' for future race weekends, in a statement that was made following the qualifying session at Baku.

"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," Verstappen said. "You have no proper reference on the mediums until qualifying. It doesn’t make any sense."

"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."

Pirelli respond to Verstappen's comments

The softest C6 compound was initially planned to be used at the Singapore GP, but it was eventually confirmed that, in fact, the C5 would be the soft tyre there.

It was also scheduled to be used at next month's Las Vegas GP, but once again that decision has been reversed.

Now, Pirelli Motorsport director Mario Isola has revealed that those decisions were not a result of Verstappen's comments, and had already been made before the Dutchman had voiced his concerns about the C6.

"I have seen the comments," Isola told Autosport. "I didn't have the opportunity to talk to Max yet, but I will do that [later]. In any case, it's not urgent because there is no plan to bring the C6 to any other race this year.

"The original idea of taking it to Singapore and Las Vegas was abandoned because the energy is much higher in Singapore, and in Las Vegas the temperature is also an element to consider. You can generate graining on the C6, so it was not really an option."

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