Pirelli adjusts F1 tyre compounds to boost two-stop race strategies, aiming for more overtaking, less tyre saving, and tighter battles.
Is the introduction of the C6 tyres proving disappointing for Pirelli? Indeed, these new supersoft tyres were overlooked by Aston Martin F1 and George Russell in Imola, as those drivers set their best Q3 times using the medium compound.
C6 Compound Underwhelms Teams
In Monaco, the performance gap between the C5 and C6 didn’t seem particularly significant either—barely a tenth.
During the press conference in Barcelona, Mario Isola, Pirelli’s head of F1, didn’t mince words: he admitted to receiving mixed feedback from the teams.
“We received mixed feedback from the teams. That’s quite normal when you introduce a new compound, especially a soft compound like the C6.”
“We didn’t have much time to test and develop this compound. It’s something we felt at the end of last season—that we needed a softer compound than the C5.”
“So, for the moment, I’m reasonably satisfied, and I’m looking forward to Canada where we’ll probably gather more information on the C6.”
Mario Isola is almost making an announcement already: the aim is to eventually have a C6 that is even softer.
Pirelli Plans Bolder Compounds
“The compound is quite close to the C5. Ideally, I would like to see, in the future, a C6 that’s a more aggressive choice, different from the current one.”
Pirelli has also announced its new tyre selections for the upcoming Grands Prix. The choices will be bold at Silverstone, with a softer selection than last year. And at Spa, compounds C1, C3, and C4 will be used—meaning there will be a compound step.
The goal? To push teams toward two-stop strategies.
“We now have more information compared to the initial draft of the compound selection. And after talking with F1 teams and drivers—and of course the FIA—it’s clear we need to be a bit more aggressive or find a way to encourage teams toward a two-stop strategy,” Isola explained.
“It wasn’t a choice for the races where we went one step softer. So for now, we’ve modified the selection for Silverstone—we’re going one step softer with C2, C3, and C4.”
“And we’ve also decided to skip a step at Spa. So instead of C2, C3, and C4, we’re going with C1, C3, and C4.”
Compound Gaps Force Strategy
“That means between C1 and C3—the Hard and the Medium—you have a much larger delta. If teams want to be aggressive, they’ll have to use the C3 and C4 on a two-stop strategy.”
“If they want to be conservative, they’ll use C1 and C3, but that means they’ll be slower. So, I’m curious to see if it works.”
“The compound jump at Spa is meant to give teams a Hard compound that is much slower than the Medium and Soft.”
“That means if they want to use the Hard for a one-stop strategy, they’re, let’s say, penalised by the slower compound. So if they’re more aggressive—Medium and Soft—on paper, they should go for a two-stop race.”
“This is about trying to create more action, more overtaking, and less tyre management.”
Why was Spa chosen for this experiment? And at which other tracks does Pirelli plan to replicate this interesting approach?
“As usual, we run simulations to try to understand how many strategies are possible with different compound selections.”
Spa Offers Strategy Variability
“We found that Belgium offered the highest number of potential strategies when switching to C1, C3, and C4.”
“There was an initial idea to also use C1, C3, and C4 at Silverstone. But then we realised that with C1 and C3, you could probably complete a one-stop race quite easily at Silverstone, because the C1 works fairly well there.”
“Whereas in Belgium, it’s likely slower. And that’s what creates this uncertain scenario.”
Could we also see, in the future, an even more aggressive selection with larger compound jumps at Monaco?
“Monaco is a different story. Monaco is a circuit where overtaking is difficult or nearly impossible.”
“Not perfect, probably, but it was a good attempt to try something different, testing two pit stops. I’ve heard everything about Monaco, but if I have to answer regarding tyre selection, I believe we could use C1, C5, C6, whatever, it makes no difference because the leading driver just manages the tyre and goes to the end.”
“The only option was to try to introduce some unpredictability with a pit stop.”
- Discover More>Alonso and Sainz hail Palou’s Indy 500 masterclass win
- Following us on>Facebook et Twitter