Wolff reveals 'strange' Mercedes advantage in dominant Las Vegas one-two

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed that George Russell and Lewis Hamilton had a "strange" advantage, on their way to claiming a one-two in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. 

Russell converted pole position into victory and spent the majority of the race alone, although did deal with an early challenge from Charles Leclerc. 

Hamilton battled through the field from 10th on the grid and boasted excellent pace; however, his two mistakes in Q3 ended his hope of becoming a 106-time F1 race winner. 

The Brackley-based team were untouchable in Sin City, to the extent that the W15 was at times two seconds per lap faster than the rest of the field. 

It was a pleasant surprise for the entire team, with Wolff just wishing somebody understood why the car came alive. 

"It's really nice, if one would understand these cars," Wolff joked to Sky Sports F1. "Because today we really crushed everyone, dominant. 

"We could have gone easily faster, where at times we were two seconds quicker than everybody else. 

"I'm really happy, the team deserves it. We've worked so hard in Brackley and in Brixworth, and here in the race team. A great day."

Mercedes Las Vegas strength

Leclerc's early threat did not last long, as Ferrari suffered from tyre degradation and graining very quickly. 

Bizarrely, Mercedes did not suffer from graining or degradation on either the medium nor hard compound.

This was a key advantage for the Silver Arrows, as it meant Russell and Hamilton were able to constantly push the tyres.

"Strange, because we were capable of pushing whenever we wanted to," Wolff told select media including RacingNews365. 

"There was no graining appearing, neither on the medium, nor on the hard. You could see Charles attempted a few times to put pressure on George, which he defended great. 

"I don't know what the outcome would have been of that, but the driving was essential and he [Leclerc] fell off. Leclerc after a few laps, couldn't hold the pace and fell off. 

"We didn't have a single sign of graining, nor degradation."