F1 News
A disadvantage for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi? These are the tyres for today
- Ludo van Denderen
The strategists of the 10 Formula 1 teams need to understand the tactics for one more Grand Prix before they can go on holiday. A look at the remaining tyre sets shows that the top teams, McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull Racing, have almost the same composition of tyres left for the race in Abu Dhabi.
Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris each have two sets of new hard tyres at their disposal, plus one new set of mediums. On the other hand, Mercedes have just one set of new hard tyres along with one set of used hard tyres for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, plus one used set of mediums each.
This is the fastest strategy according to Pirelli
According to Mario Isola, Pirelli's director of motorsport, on paper, a one-stop is going to be the fastest strategy, with the start on mediums and later changing to hard tyres. "Those who start further back may want to extend a first stint on the hard tyre, pitting between laps 29 and 35," the Italian stated.
"However, there are three factors that could open the door for a two-stop race: possibly a greater degradation than we have seen so far, a neutralisation, or, more likely, drivers who end up in traffic and decide to pit early and try to take the obvious advantage of a new set of tyres for the first few laps after the stop."
He continued: "This could cause a chain reaction, causing teams to switch to a two-stop strategy. That was also the case last year, when all teams, except VCARB, had two sets of new hard tyres."
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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