Rain on Saturday? 'It can cause another variable for the optimal strategy'

According to Pirelli the conditions on the track of Istanbul Park have improved a lot compared to last year. The drivers experienced a lot of problems with grip on the new asphalt. Lewis Hamilton's best time in FP2 was about 4,5 seconds faster than last year's times.

Pirelli further analyses that the difference between the hard tyre and the medium tyre is half a second, while there is 0.4 seconds between the medium and soft tyre. These differences could still change over the course of the weekend as more rubber hits the track.

"From the beginning it was clear that track conditions were much better than last year, with drivers reporting improved grip, and times in both sessions considerably faster than 2020", Mario Isola says on the website of Pirelli.

"It’s hard to compare this year to last year, because the weather conditions are different and our tyre nomination is a step softer. The track has also been pressure-washed recently, and this has washed off the surface bitumen, although the level of roughness seems to be unaltered. As a result, we’ve seen consistent grip throughout the lap – albeit slightly affected by today’s gusting winds – and all three tyres providing solid performance, with a bit of graining as expected, especially on the front-right", Isola continues.