What strategy will Red Bull deploy to hand Verstappen F1 title glory in Las Vegas?

Max Verstappen stands on the brink of securing his fourth F1 drivers' championship, but in the chilly Las Vegas night air, Red Bull has its work cut out to determine a strategy that will cement such an honour.

All Verstappen primarily has to do is finish ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris to wrap up his latest title and join an elite club of just six drivers to have won four or more.

The Dutchman landed the first blow by finishing ahead of Norris in qualifying, with the duo lining up alongside one another on the third row of the grid in fifth and sixth respectively.

It has been clear so far that neither the Red Bull nor the McLaren has the pace to match either Mercedes or Ferrari, with George Russell on pole ahead of Carlos Sainz.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly was the surprise package of qualifying, with the Frenchman landing third ahead of Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari.

Tyre choice for all concerned, however, is going to be more critical than usual for a race given the cold temperatures by the time the race starts at 10 pm local time and around the low grip Las Vegas Street Circuit.

Red Bull underlined with a high-fuel run at the start of final practice that the medium Pirelli compound does not last. Verstappen anxiously claimed over the radio that he feared crashing, such was the degradation of his tyres after just nine laps.

Pirelli claims a one-stopper is the fastest route to the chequered flag, naturally barring any incidents, and there are two choices - starting on the medium and running to around one-third distance of the 50-lap race before switching to the hard compound.

Alternatively, starting on the hard and potentially going as long as lap 34 before taking on the mediums is as quick.

But will Red Bull trust the mediums after what it witnessed in FP3? That could lead to a potential two-stop by starting on the softs for a short stint before two spells on the hards.

Ferrari has edge on Russell

Of course, with this race being a street circuit, the team's strategists will be mindful of the high probability of a red-flag stoppage, as was the case in qualifying when Williams' Franco Colapinto crashed at the end of FP2.

Verstappen and Norris both have exactly the same sets of tyres available to them - two sets of new hards, one set of fresh mediums, and three sets of used softs.

From McLaren's perspective, it will have to conjure up something special for Norris to pull off a result that will at least take the drivers' title fight to next weekend's race in Qatar.

McLaren will also be mindful of damage limitation to Ferrari given the starting positions of Sainz and Leclerc compared to Norris and Oscar Piastri, who starts eighth, and with the former holding a 36-point cushion.

As far as the battle for the race victory goes, Sainz and Leclerc seemingly have the edge on Russell.

The British driver has no fresh sets of any compound - two used hard, one medium and three soft. In contrast, Sainz and Leclerc have two new sets of hards and one of the mediums. Could that be the key to a Ferrari victory?