The 26-year-old driver may have a 24-point lead over his teammate Oscar Piastri following victories in Mexico and Brazil but he isn't feeling confident about the upcoming race because McLaren have struggled in the two previous races at the Strip Circuit due to issues getting their car working in temperatures cooler than at most other races.

Lando - who came sixth, one place ahead of Oscar in last year's Las Vegas Grand Prix - was asked if he expected conditions in the night time race to help or hinder McLaren this year and said: "Hinder, for sure. I think it was our worst race last year, So I'm not really looking forward to it.

"We've been trying to work quite hard on improving those things. We know Mercedes were incredibly strong there last year, as well as Red Bull and Ferraris. I think we were the bottom of those four.

"So yeah, we'll wait and see. Obviously, we've improved a lot of things this year, so I'm not going to be too negative about it.

"I think there's plenty to look forward to. We know Abu Dhabi and Qatar are ones we are looking forward to. Las Vegas just a little bit less, because they've been probably some of our weakest races over the last two years, So let's wait and see."

His answer during the press conference then prompted a question as to whether he was exhibiting an overly negative mentality, but he insisted he was just being honest.

He replied: "I can say what I want. I can think what I want. I'd say what I always am is, I always try and be as honest as I can be. If I don't think we're going to be quick, I don't think we're going to be quick.

"And I'm not saying I'm going to be 10th. I'm just saying I think it's going to be difficult to win. We were a long way off - just go and look at the data from last year. Look at the race traces - we were miles off."