Eventual race winner Max Verstappen, who as soon as once more confirmed how good his Pink Bull RB19 is at taking care of tyres, confessed to being into administration mode as quickly as he left the pits.
“The out-lap,” stated the Dutchman, when requested when he first began taking care of his tyres. “There was not one lap the place I pushed flat-out. You may’t. It is not possible.”
Following the race, quite a few drivers admitted issues had been fairly excessive in making an attempt to maintain the gentle tyre alive for the 24-lap race occasion.
Williams driver Alex Albon even lamented: “The [degradation] is simply huge. It feels horrible to drive, to be trustworthy.”
With the gentle tyre being removed from ideally suited, one logical assumption would have been that drivers had made an error in not going to the medium – which ought to in idea have supplied higher sturdiness for a slight trade-off in final efficiency.
However that possibility proved to be removed from ideally suited for the three drivers who tried it – Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant – as all of them did not make an impression within the race and suffered simply as unhealthy with degradation.
The Brazil dash subsequently seems to have thrown up a state of affairs the place groups and drivers had been caught between a rock and a tough place: a gentle that wanted an excessive amount of administration and a medium that wasn’t performing to its greatest.
Why the gentle proved to be the popular route for all of the front-runners is a fancy matter to know, however F1 tyre provider believes quite a few circumstances got here collectively.
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Sergio Perez, Pink Bull Racing RB19, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14
Pirelli chief engineer Simone Berra stated: “We had been shocked as properly about what number of groups determined to make use of the gentle.
“We’re investigating the explanation behind [this], however evidently the gentle was actually constant.
“I feel the achieve over the medium from the gentle is that you’ve the next grip stage normally. You slide much less with the gentle and also you generate much less overheating, so you’ll be able to handle slightly bit higher the temperatures.”
Berra thinks that the medium, whereas in idea a extra sturdy tyre, carried out worse than it ought to have achieved by way of tyre life as a result of it will have slid extra on the monitor and subsequently overheated faster.
This case was exacerbated by the asphalt being inexperienced – because of the storm that washed away all of the rubber on Friday nights – in addition to temperatures being so excessive.
“We predict this affected the sliding of the medium, and generated extra overheating and extra degradation,” he stated.
“However we do not have a transparent image from all of the grid. We had simply Haas and one driver from Williams [on the mediums], so we do not have a transparent image of what actually occurred.
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23 battles with Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60
“We do not know different groups with the medium, how they may have carried out, as an example. What must be stated is that with these temperatures we had, 47/48C at the start of the session, we anticipated it [the tyre choice] to go tougher.
“However I feel it was extra the situation of the monitor that compelled the groups to make use of the gentle.”
Three-stop possibility
The proof of the dash – and why the gentle could be a higher race tyre in Brazil than the medium – has opened up the prospect of some aggressive methods for the grand prix.
Berra believes that these drivers who’ve additional softs accessible for the race – together with Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, the Aston Martin duo and Lando Norris – may very well be better off over those that haven’t any contemporary softs (each Mercedes drivers, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz).
“The medium may very well be higher with the monitor evolution and all of the automobiles operating round rubbering the race line,” he stated.
“For the time being, the perfect technique is utilizing the gentle for the primary stint and naturally to have additional grip for the beginning, earlier than passing on to the medium,” he defined.
“Then, after that, you’ll be able to determine to make use of a second medium to go to the top or the gentle to go to the top.”
Berra even thinks that the likelihood is there for some to go for a three-stopper, particularly those that have additional units of softs.
The drivers who’ve these are Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Daniel Ricciardo and Logan Sargeant.
“It is simply three, 4 seconds slower,” he stated. “It is utilizing primarily the gentle compounds, particularly for the drivers who’ve two units of latest softs left. So let’s have a look at, it may very well be a risk if you wish to push extra, trying much less after the tyre and making an attempt to be extra aggressive.
“One cease is far slower, like seven-nine seconds slower and requires to make use of the exhausting compound, which isn’t actually [the ideal race tyre].”
Pirelli has posted the accessible tyre units every driver has remaining for the race.
Tyres accessible