F1 News

Verstappen benefits from rain? Mercedes at an advantage when it comes to tyres in a dry race

1 August 2021 at 11:50
Last update 1 August 2021 at 12:39
  • GPblog.com

After all the drama surrounding Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton it is time for another race on Sunday. Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez will start on the soft tyre. Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will start on the mediums.

And that makes a difference for during the race. Bottas has two used mediums left, while Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez have new and fresh ones in addition to a used one.

Bottas has fresh softs left

Bottas, on the other hand, has a new soft tyre, something Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez cannot say. The three drivers have to make do with three used sets. Furthermore all four drivers have a new hard tyre left.

It remains to be seen how things will work out on Sunday. It could be that these tyres will not even be used during the race. With the rain over Hungary now and during the morning, it is a realistic scenario that only wets and intermediates will be used. In that case, all the strategy advantages outlined above would fall away.

Pit stop strategy

The strategy can also be affected by this. If it remains dry, a stop from soft to hard and then back to medium is fastest. This could then be the strategy of Red Bull, which could also go for the third option (soft-hard-soft). A two-stop situation is unavoidable anyway, according to Pirelli.

A stop from medium to hard could also be an option, especially for the two drivers of Mercedes. After all, they start on the medium tyre. So here too Mercedes seems to have an advantage over Red Bull, because it would only have to make one stop instead of two. But again: if it rains all these predictions can be thrown out. Verstappen therefore seems to have to hope for rain. A lot of rain.