Nico Hülkenberg says that he also ran into graining on the opening stint but accepted it at the F1 Las Vegas GP, extending the first two stints to create a tyre offset and pass Yuki Tsunoda late on.
He ended up in eighth position and scored four more points in the championship.
The German had a 14-lap opening stint on the mediums before switching to hard tyres.
Most of the drivers pitted very early, struggling with graining and the resulting loss of performance. Both Mercedes managed their tyres well and drove in a 1-2 finish, with George Russell winning.
Hülkenberg accepted graining and hard tyres felt better
Asked by media, Hülkenberg said that despite the graining, they went on to get that delta, accepting the resulting performance drop.
“We ran into the graining, but we accepted it. At that moment, I think we were still half trying to do one stop. I think maybe it was still on after the first stop, but then after a couple of laps on the hard, I realised it’s probably not going to happen.”
Other drivers also struggled with graining, especially both Ferrari drivers. Carlos Sainz says that he struggled too much with it, while Charles Leclerc lost up to three seconds per lap. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri says the graining was a lot worse than he feared.
Hülkenberg was then asked about the hard tyres, on which he completed two stints on. According to him, the white-marked tyres felt better but still grained.
”[The hard tyres] were okay,” he said. “But still grained, so I think it’s just this surface, the very smooth tarmac with cold temps, just makes these tyres struggle a bit.”
The future Sauber driver was then asked how graining compares to thermal degradation, on which he says that it’s a completely different story.
”It’s quite different, especially now it was the front today, all weekend really, that was the limiting factor and the problem. It’s a different story, a different feel.”
Finishing on a high with Haas
Haas has jumped into sixth place, as Hülkenberg scored four more points. The American team is one ahead of Alpine, who scored a huge 35-point haul the weekend before in Interlagos.
The German is fully aware that the battle is heading all the way to the last lap in Abu Dhabi, however.
He has two events remaining with Haas ahead of his move to Sauber in 2025 on a multi-year deal.
“Yeah, you never know, but every point matters for sure. For now, just happy that we maximised the opportunity today.
“We had the pace, but it was certainly a tough and challenging race with the tyres and with graining. I guess at least everyone in the midfield had the same symptoms and difficulties.
“I think we managed it well, offset our strategy a bit, decided to delay the stops to have fresher tyres at the end.
“But that worked well and paid off, so happy.
“Very, very [determined to finish P6 with Haas before leaving for Sauber].
“I enjoy myself very much in the team, I’ve said that many times and obviously I want to go out strong.
“I think we’ve done a really good job over the winter and all this year and I would like to celebrate with the team at Abu Dhabi Sunday night.
“It’s two to go, it will go down to the wire, nobody else is going to hand it to us.
“So we have to earn it and do a good job in the next two.”
