F1 News
Verstappen has the tyre advantage over the rest of the grid in Qatar
Max Verstappen may have lost his pole position that he took on Saturday at the Qatar Grand Prix, but despite dropping to P2 on the grid, he still holds an advantage over the rest of his rivals. The Dutchman will have more newer tyres at his disposal for Sunday's Grand Prix in the Middle East, giving him an edge over everyone else when the lights go out.
In qualifying, Verstappen found the pace required right at the last moment to steal pole position by +0.055 seconds away from Geroge Russell and earn his first P1 start since the Austrian Grand Prix earlier in the season.
However, after the session, the four-time world champion was summoned to the stewards for 'driving unnecessarily slowly on a cool-down lap' with Russell behind him in the final part of qualifying. The Mercedes driver argued that the Duthman drove dangerously, and the FIA agreed, handing Verstappen and one-place grid penalty and stripping him of his pole position.
What tyres are available for drivers at the Qatar Grand Prix?
Despite this, the Red Bull Racing driver still holds an advantage with his tyre allocation for the Grand Prix over the rest of his rivals. Out of the big teams, Verstappen is the only one to have a new set of softs available for the race. He also has a new set of medium tyres at his disposal, as does Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, while teammate Sergio Perez has two sets of yellow-walled tyres for the Grand Prix.
With the hard tyres, it's Ferrari who are at a disadvantage to the rest of the grid, with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz only having one new set of tyres at their disposal, while both Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren drivers have two new sets of white-walled tyres available to them.
What is the strategy for the Qatar Grand Prix?
In regards to strategy for Sunday's race in the Middle East, Pirelli says that a one-stop is the optimal strategy. Starting on the medium tyres and then moving to the hards is what is to be expected for the majority of drivers today.
Pirelli also recommends a possible two-stop strategy if tyre degradation becomes more of a problem than what may be expected. Both strategies start on the mediums and move onto the hard tyres after the first stop, but a second stop could see drivers change to the yellow-walled mediums or the white-walled hards. As always, strategy will be vital.
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