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Using the P Zero
Pink hypersoft tyre in Russia for the first time, Mercedes driver Lewis
Hamilton claimed fastest time in free practice ahead of his team mate
Valtteri Bottas, on the same compound.
His time was already close to the 2017 pole, but the slippery and dirty
surface in Sochi means that big track evolution is a common feature, with
drivers often struggling to find optimal grip. This resulted in some cases
of surface graining on the hypersoft, which should reduce when more rubber
is laid on the track.
The drivers used the opening sessions to find out about all three compounds
in Sochi, assessing their speed against likely durability on differing fuel
loads. These calculations will form the basis of a race strategy, on a
circuit where the generally low energy demands on tyres have to be balanced
against the well-known challenge of Turn 3, which can take a lot out of the
rubber.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“With the track always evolving so quickly in Sochi, it’s not easy to draw
any firm conclusions on a Friday. However, we’re seeing that the lap times
are getting dramatically faster throughout each session. The compounds also
seem to be quite evenly spaced out in terms of performance, which is what we
wanted to achieve with the ‘step’ between the nominations. It was important
for the teams to find out as much about the hypersoft here as they could, to
see how it could fit into a race strategy. Balancing the load between the
front and rear tyres, given the quite different demands between the first
and third sectors of this circuit, is likely to be a key to success in
Russia”. |
FREE PRACTICE 1 – TOP 3 TIMES
DRIVER TIME COMPOUND
Vettel 1m34.488s HYPERSOFT NEW
Verstappen 1m34.538s HYPERSOFT NEW
Hamilton 1m34.818s SOFT NEW
FREE PRACTICE 2 – TOP 3 TIMES
DRIVER TIME COMPOUND
Hamilton 1m33.385s HYPERSOFT NEW
Bottas 1m33.584s HYPERSOFT NEW
Verstappen 1m33.827s HYPERSOFT NEW
FP1 - BEST TIME BY COMPOUND
COMPOUND DRIVER TIME
SOFT Hamilton 1m34.818s
ULTRASOFT Hamilton 1m35.326s
HYPERSOFT Vettel 1m34.488s
FP2 - BEST TIME BY COMPOUND
COMPOUND DRIVER TIME
SOFT Raikkonen 1m35.424s
ULTRASOFT Hamilton 1m34.245s
HYPERSOFT Hamilton 1m33.385s
MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND SO FAR
COMPOUND DRIVER LAPS
SOFT Sirotkin 26
ULTRASOFT Stroll 27
HYPERSOFT Magnussen 22
TYRE STATISTICS OF THE DAY
SOFT ULTRASOFT HYPERSOFT
Kms driven* 1234 2083 3160
Sets used overall** 12 24 49
* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres
driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.
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