Isola: "The knowledge is now maximized; chances of breaking records exist"

F1 News

8 December 2020 at 18:13
Last update 9 December 2020 at 14:23
  • GPblog.com

Next Sunday, the last Grand Prix of 2020 will be held and tradition will be followed as it will be held at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. With this race in mind, Pirelli has already shared some information about the tyres they will bring to the last race of the season. It won't be much different for the teams as the choice of tyres will be the same as last year.

The three types of tyres

The last Grand Prix of the season this year will take place a little later than usual, but that won't make any difference to the choice of tyres. For example, Pirelli will take the following tyres with it: C3, C4 and C5. The C3 tyre is the white tyre, C4 the yellow one and C5 the red one. For the teams, it is also a cut and paste for this choice of tyres, as they already have all the data of the track.

Pirelli expects to be a one-stopper as always, as the wear and tear of the tyres in the race will be low. Interestingly, Pirelli does not describe the first and third free practice as representative, as the temperature on and off the track is higher than during the race, which will take place in the evening. This of course affects how the tyres work, so the second free practice and qualifying are particularly interesting when it comes to the rubber.

There will be 4,500 tyres

Mario Isola of Pirelli has the following to say: "Abu Dhabi marks the end of another very long season, but the work still continues for us after the Grand Prix, with a series of tests for both Formula 1 and Formula 2, using 13-inch tyres as well as 18-inch tyres," which Isola refers to the 'young driver' test among other things.

"In total, we’ll bring around 4500 tyres to Abu Dhabi, for racing and testing: more than double the usual quantity. The two-day official F1 test after the race will be particularly important, as it gives a chance for the teams to compare 2019 to 2020 tyres in representative conditions and with specifically adapted cars for the first time.

"Before then, we have one final grand prix to complete. There’s a strong chance that we could see more lap records broken again over the weekend, with the teams now having maximised their knowledge of the 2019 tyres," said Isola.