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POSSIBLE RACE STRATEGIES:
A one-stop race is going to be marginal on wear, whichever combination of
tyres is used, so the best way is definitely a two-stopper for the 66-lap
grand prix. The fastest way on paper is two 19-lap stints on the soft
compound plus a 28-lap run on the mediums, probably using the medium for the
second stint (so soft-medium-soft).
The second-fastest approach would be a three-stopper: three stints on soft
of 15 laps each plus 21 laps on the medium – again probably running the
medium for the second of those stints (soft-medium-soft-soft). There is
always a risk in making several pit stops, so some teams may want to avoid
this.
Finally, the third-fastest way at the moment is another two-stopper, and
this will come into its own if temperatures are higher or degradation on the
soft is a bit more than expected. That is starting on the soft for 16 laps
and then doing two 25-lap stints on the medium (soft-medium-medium).
All these strategies are just theoretical of course, as they naturally
depend on the individual circumstances of the race and each car – as well as
the tyre sets that each driver has available to them.
FOCUS ON:
* Soft tyre. All the drivers used the soft tyre to get through Q2, meaning
that the top 10 is guaranteed to start on this compound tomorrow, almost
certainly leading to a two-stop strategy for most.
* Hot weather. Track temperatures peaked at nearly 50 degrees today and
similarly warm conditions are expected tomorrow, making thermal degradation
a factor.
* Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver qualified P11 and as such will be the
first driver to have a free choice of tyres tomorrow: he may choose to do
something different.
* Different strategies. With a two or more stops expected, there’s a wide
variety of potential strategies, as described above. All the stints are
interchangeable: so those outside the top 10 could start on a tyre that’s
not the soft and vary the order in which they use the tyres, depending on
how the race pans out. |
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MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“All the drivers concentrated on the soft in qualifying, which was a slight
surprise, perhaps because of the established performance gap to the medium
and the pace of the frontrunners. This means that we can almost certainly
expect two stops during the race tomorrow, and we’re unlikely to see much
use of the hard, as there’s a big gap to the medium too. Key to tomorrow’s
race in these very warm conditions will be managing wear and degradation on
the soft. There’s plenty of scope for those starting lower down the grid to
try something a bit different, so hopefully we’ll see another interesting
race tomorrow with lots of variations in strategy.” |
