Pirelli expects fewer pit stops: "Important that drivers do their best"

Isola hopes for harder racing

A remarkable statement from the Italian indicates that he hopes the racing will outweigh the strategy in 2022. With the new technical regulations come new tires from Pirelli. Starting this year, the wheels will be eighteen inches. This increase makes the tires a lot more robust and allows a driver to race harder on them. Isola hopes that the amount of different strategies will not be lost, but calls it quite possible that in the coming season we will see more races with only one stop.

Isola explains opposite Racer.com explained: "That's not a problem for me as long as we have good races with a lot of action on the track. If we have drivers overtaking, it's important that they have to do their best to do that. That's what spectators want." Seen from the other side, it can also be argued that the public actually wants to see a two-stop strategy during a race, as it requires the team to do very precise calculations and the drivers to drive very consistently for such a strategy.

'Formula 1 fans want that too'

The Pirelli chief refutes this with evidence from a survey of F1 fans: "There was a survey done on that by F1. What it shows most is that fans don't want to see easy overtaking manoeuvres. They want action on the track and fighting on track." This statement just still doesn't reveal what fans think of the two-stop. A combination of on-track action and battles with an exciting strategy could be an ideal that Pirelli could contribute to.

Isola closes the conversation by mentioning that little has changed about the 'hardness' of the tire this winter. The tires are bigger, but that doesn't necessarily mean less wear. The tires have been reformulated to become a "new family of compounds.