TYRE TALES: HOW THE RACE WAS WON

• World champion Max Verstappen won the final round of the 2022 season, in Abu Dhabi. The Dutchman finished ahead of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and his Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez. All the drivers on the podium ended the race on the P Zero White hard.
• The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix took place in partially cloudy conditions and asphalt temperatures that ranged between 31.4 and 34.4 degrees, similar to yesterday’s qualifying.
• The teams chose a variety of different strategies for the race. As a result of the data gathered in the preceding days, 11 drivers went for a two-stopper while eight selected a more conservative one-stop strategy.
• Red Bull split the strategy for its two drivers, both of whom finished on the podium. Verstappen stopped on lap 20 to swap his starting set of P Zero Yellow medium tyre for the hard, whereas Perez stopped twice (on lap 15 and 33), running two hard stints after starting on the medium. 
• McLaren’s Lando Norris set the fastest lap of the race on lap 44, thanks to a time of 1m28.391s using the medium. The longest hard compound stint was instead completed by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, totalling 43 laps after starting on the P Zero Red soft.

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY 

The majority of the drivers started the race on the medium compound. Gasly was the only driver to start on the soft, while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen opted to begin on the hard.
Some teams chose to split their strategies, considering the minimal difference in overall race time between one and two stops in simulations. This was the case for Mercedes, which stopped George Russell twice (on a medium-hard-medium strategy) but Lewis Hamilton just once; who was on a long final stint using the hard tyre before retiring prior to the finish.
Ferrari was another team to adopt split strategies. Carlos Sainz stopped twice (medium-hard-hard) while his team mate stopped only once, going from the medium to the hard.

• Max Verstappen clinched pole for the final race of the 2022 season. The Red Bull driver set the best qualifying time, a 1m23.824s, using the soft P Zero compound. He is joined on the front row by team-mate Sergio Perez, who was 0.228s off top spot. Charles Leclerc will start third in his Ferrari, setting a fastest lap time of 1m24.092s.
• Track temperatures during qualifying ranged between 32.2-33.2°C; as expected, conditions were cooler than both Friday’s second free practice session and Saturday’s third and final practice.
• The performance gaps between the three softest compounds in the Pirelli range present in Abu Dhabi are almost identical. There is an estimated gap of 0.3s per lap between both the hard and medium compounds and the medium and soft compounds respectively.
• Red Bull was also fastest in final practice. Perez topped the classification with a 1m24.982s, putting him 0.152s ahead of Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was third-fastest with a 1m25.222s. Free practice was briefly interrupted mid-session by a red flag.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Max Verstappen by Khaby Lame, the world's most followed influencer on TikTok. The 22-year-old Italian started posting comical video reactions on the social network in 2020 and his success was immediate, building the fastest-growing TikTok account ever. Lame now has more than 152 million followers and 2.5 billion likes, and featured on the Forbes Top Creators 2022 list.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

A two-stop strategy may well be the fastest option for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Increased tyre degradation compared to last year’s race has created question marks surrounding pre-event simulations. Two pitstops, with an average loss of 22 seconds for each tire change, is projected to be four to five seconds faster than a single stop. 
Two options are considered the fastest: start on mediums, change to hards (between lap 16 and 22) complete the final stint on either the medium or hard compound. Completing the final stint on soft tyres is less likely, as it is unlikely to be as competitive as the other compounds. What teams choose to do will also likely be down to their remaining tyre allocation. 
Anyone wishing to try a one stop strategy may arrive on the grid with medium compound and then replace them with the hard tyre, with managing the degradation of a longer first stint key. Other options on a one-stop strategy include soft to hard and hard to soft, at which point a safety car would play an important role in the outcome.

Testing is essential for developing high-performance tyres. Pirelli has organised a test day in Yas Marina on Tuesday, where both the full-time drivers and rookies will try out the compounds that will make their debut next year. The Abu Dhabi test day follows two special 90-minute practice sessions that have already taken place in Austin and Mexico City, which allowed Pirelli technicians to refine the tyres ahead of next Tuesday’s test, where cars will circulate all day between 9am and 6pm.

• Red Bull driver Max Verstappen set the pace in second free practice, clocking a 1m25.146s on the soft P Zero compound. George Russell’s Mercedes was 0.341s off the top spot, with Charles Leclerc making it three teams in the top three with a 1m25.599s aboard his Ferrari.
• Track temperatures rapidly decreased from 38.6°C to 35.7°C during second free practice, which took place as the sun began to set. Those conditions were markedly different from the first free practice in the afternoon, where track temperatures rose as high as 47.5°C. Conditions for qualifying on Saturday are expected to be closer to those seen in second free practice, rather than the first session.
• Despite Yas Marina’s reputation for red flags in practice, there were no interruptions in either free practice session on Friday. This will undoubtedly benefit the teams and drivers, who were able conduct significant long runs without interruptions as they prepared for Sunday’s race.
• Charles Leclerc clocked the fastest time of anyone on the P Zero medium compound with a 1m26.045s in second free practice. The fastest lap time on the white-marked hard compound tyres during Friday also came in the second session, courtesy of Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) with a 1m27.368s.
• First practice provided a precious opportunity for several young drivers to accrue mileage at the wheel of a Formula 1 car. That said, none of the six drivers without an F1 race start to their name were able to challenge the established stars at the top of the timesheets: Lewis Hamilton set the pace with a 1m26.633s on softs, 0.220s ahead of Mercedes team mate Russell. Leclerc was third-fastest (as he would be later on in FP2) with a 1m26.888s.

THE BIG NUMBER: 2500

This is the size of Yas Island in hectares, making it the largest man-made island in the world. It houses the Yas Marina circuit, along with amusement parks and attractions such as Ferrari World. The circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke and completed in 2009, is the first permanent track in the world to boast a capacity of 60,000 fully-covered seats. Tickets for this year’s race are already sold out.

• Pirelli has nominated the three softest compounds in the range for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: C3 as the P Zero White hard, C4 as the P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as the P Zero Red soft.
• The circuit characteristics aren’t particularly demanding for the tyres. The asphalt is not especially abrasive, which allows the use of the softer compounds. It’s going to be important to consider falling track temperatures during the race on Sunday, as the chequered flag falls late into the evening.
• Yas Marina is made up of 16 corners as well as some fast sections. Aerodynamics are an important aspect to guarantee a strong performance and optimal tyre management.
• The teams used a number of different strategies at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won his first world title after stopping three times, putting on the soft tyre during a safety car period five laps from the end. 
• This is the final race of the 2022 Formula 1 season, but the teams will then stay on for a one-day test of the 2023 slick compounds, which were fine-tuned in testing during the USA and Mexico Grand Prix weekends.

Abu Dhabi hosts the final round of this year’s Formula 2 championship, two months after the penultimate round in Italy. While MP Motorsport's Felipe Drugovich has claimed the drivers’ title already, the teams’ title as well as many other important positions in the final standings are still up for grabs. The P Zero Yellow medium tyres and P Zero Red soft tyres have been nominated for the season finale, just like the previous round at Monza. Each driver has five sets of slick tyres (three medium and two soft) to use across the weekend. The sprint race, lasting 23 laps, takes place on Saturday afternoon at 16:20 ahead of the 33-lap feature race on Sunday at 13:00.

WRC    
The 2022 World Rally Championship, which is exclusively supplied by Pirelli, concluded on Rally Japan with a Hyundai one-two: Thierry Neuville winning ahead of Ott Tanak. Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta was third on home territory. 

• Mercedes sealed its first win of the year with a one-two led by Russell – the winner of yesterday’s sprint race – who finished ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton. Both drivers adopted an identical two-stop strategy: soft tyres at the start, followed by a middle stint on medium and a final stint on soft. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz completed the podium with a three-stopper, alternating between the medium and soft compounds. Sergio Perez started fourth but was passed during the final laps by both Ferraris, as well as Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and his Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen, finishing the race in seventh on the medium tyres.
• Russell set fastest lap of the race on soft tyres: 1m13.785s. The soft was used for a 34-lap stint by Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou, who switched from the medium on lap 37.

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY 

The Brazilian Grand Prix was effectively split into two different starting strategies. A total of 11 cars selected the soft tyre and eight used the medium for the opening stint – with the only exception being Williams driver Alex Albon, who put on the hard tyre from last on the grid. He then switched to the medium after five laps during the first safety car. Most drivers ran a two-stop strategy, with the majority finishing on the soft. Eight drivers instead went for a three-stopper. As predicted yesterday, the hard tyre wasn’t used extensively. The safety cars during the race didn’t lead to any unexpected changes in strategy.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT 

Abu Dhabi is the final round of the 2022 Formula 1 season, hosting not only the last grand prix of the year but also a one-day post-season test in which the teams will be able to try the 2023 slick tyres. The teams will be able to decide their run plans and drivers for this test, using either their regular race drivers or young drivers.

• George Russell won the final F1 Sprint of the year, heading Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and his Mercdes team mate Lewis Hamilton, with all three drivers using new sets of the P Zero Red soft. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was fourth, using P Zero Yellow medium.
• There were two strategies seen during the race, with the majority of drivers using the soft tyre. The exceptions were Verstappen, who started from second on the grid and Williams driver Nicholas Latifi in 16th, who both opted for new medium sets at the start. The battle between the soft and medium compounds was showcased with Verstappen leading the race and then battling against Russell and Sainz, before subsequently losing his advantage.
• Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was the only driver to make a pit stop, following contact with his team mate Esteban Ocon. He took on another set of softs during his stop (this time a used set) before finishing 15th at the flag. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who had started from pole, made an excellent getaway but later slipped down to eighth, nonetheless securing a valuable point.
• Despite predictions of rain this morning, the Sprint took place in sunny conditions with ambient temperatures between 22 and 23 degrees centigrade and track temperatures between 31 and 34 degrees.
• The performance gaps between the compounds were as expected. Considering track evolution, the difference between P Zero White hard and medium was around 0.7s while the gap between medium and soft was 0.3 seconds.
• Today’s free practice session was used by some teams to prepare the strategy for the Sprint, while others concentrated on tomorrow’s grand prix. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was fastest on the soft tyre with a time of 1m14.604s, followed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Russell on the same compound: 0.184s and 0.312s behind Ocon respectively. Track temperature was between 48 and 50 degrees centigrade.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

There are four strategic options tomorrow. The first two, which are very close, each consist of a two-stopper. One is to start on the soft tyre before two medium stints to the end. An alternative is to start on soft before going onto medium and then finishing the race on soft again. Track temperatures and conditions will be the decisive factor, with the race starting at 15:00 local time (as opposed to 16:30 today).

For those looking to a one-stopper, the choice is to start on medium or soft before switching to the hard for a longer final stint. Those two options are also very close but starting on the soft is perhaps better in order to take advantage of its performance in the early stages of the race. As always in F1, it’s the details that make the difference, with the risk of traffic and safety cars also a factor on the fast and compact Interlagos circuit.

The strong links between Pirelli and Brazil date back to the 1930s, when the Italian firm built a factory in the industrial outskirts of Sao Paulo to make cables and then tyres, in the 1940s. Today, the Campinas facility makes P Zero, Cinturato and Scorpion motorsport tyres, as well as road-going car, pickup, SUV and motorbike tyres for the local market. The Feira de Santana factory instead makes car and SUV tyres, including the 22-inch Scorpion Winter for SUVs. The Circuito Panamericano was inaugurated two years ago: Pirelli’s multi-purpose proving ground in Brazil that features seven different layouts for product development as well as special events and driving experiences.

• Kevin Magnussen will start from pole position in tomorrow's F1 Sprint. The Haas driver set the fastest time in Friday’s qualifying session on the soft compound, setting a 1m11.674s, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and George Russel in the lead Mercedes by 0.203s. All the drivers finished on new C4s, with the exception of Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez who attempted a final lap, after the red flag, on intermediates.
• Particularly unstable weather conditions set the tone for the last sprint qualifying of the season. The drivers went out in Q1 with Cinturato Green intermediates due to rain that had fallen before the start of the session, then moved on to the soft even before the end of Q1. Leclerc was the only one to start Q3 on the intermediate compound, counting on the rain which did not arrive immediately. The other drivers opted for dry tyres; Magnussen managed to set the best time immediately before a red flag and the subsequent failure to improve times, due to rain making the track wetter than earlier in the session.
• The best times in the first Free Practice session were scored by the drivers on soft tyres. Sergio Perez was the fastest aboard his Red Bull with a 1m11.853s, ahead of Leclerc's Ferrari (+0.004s) and teammate Max Verstappen. Most teams began the session on the hard compound, as the session was held with partially cloudy skies overhead.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Kevin Magnussen by Felipe Massa. The Brazilian driver, born in São Paulo, is still engaged in competitive activity in the Stock Car Brasil championship. Massa, after a storied F1 career that included stints with Sauber, Ferrari and Williams and lasted almost 15 years, scored 11 victories. In 2008 it was here in Interlagos that Massa came achingly close to scoring a world championship title in a dramatic final. Facing off against Lewis Hamilton, Massa crossed the finish line for first, only to be beaten to the title by a last-lap overtake by Hamilton. Massa, currently one of the most influential ambassadors of Formula 1, also boasts the status of the last Brazilian driver to win a Grand Prix around Interlagos. It’s the first-ever pole position for both Kevin Magnussen and his Haas team.

THE BIG NUMBER: 50

The Brazilian Grand Prix is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The first race was held at Interlagos in 1972, albeit with non-championship status. Since its ascendancy to the championship calendar the following year, the South American country has never been missing in the official F1 calendar, aside from 2020 which was called off due to Covid-19 restrictions. In half a century, Brazilian drivers have won nine home races; seven at Interlagos and two at the now-demolished Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio de Janeiro.

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• Pirelli will bring the three compounds in the middle of the range to the Brazilian Grand Prix: C2 will be the P Zero White hard, C3 will be the P Zero Yellow medium, and C4 will be the P Zero Red soft. The previous two races in Austin and Mexico City used the same selection.
• Interlagos will host the third and final F1 Sprint race of the season, after Imola and Spielberg. As a result, the Pirelli Pole Position Award will be given out on Friday after qualifying.
• The Autodromo José Carlos Pace, named after the famous Brazilian driver of Italian origin, runs anti-clockwise and contains 15 corners, which place medium lateral demands on the tyres.
• The Brazilian Grand Prix is well-known for plenty of overtaking and frequent appearances from the safety car. The weather is always another question mark, with torrential rain as well as high temperatures and sunshine seen in previous years.
• The teams used varying strategies in 2021 but the drivers on the podium all stopped twice. Lewis Hamilton, the winner, finished the race on P Zero White hard ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas on the same compound.

    
WRC   
The World Rally Championship concludes in Japan on the same weekend as the Brazilian Grand Prix, with Pirelli as sole tyre supplier. The special stages of Rally Japan are split around five different cities in the prefectures of Aichi and Gifu. Toyota clinched the 2022 WRC constructors’ title at the previous round in Spain, which was won by Sebastien Ogier.

GT   
Italian driver Raffaele Marciello has won the German ADAC GT Masters championship, exclusively supplied by Pirelli. The Mercedes driver clinched the title at the final round in Hockenheim, adding to his 2022 GT World Challenge title.

FIA Motorsport Games   
The FIA Motorsport Games took place at Paul Ricard last weekend, involving drivers and teams from 28 different nations. Pirelli was the event’s official tyre supplier, bringing 3.300 tyres for all the different disciplines. Italy won the 2022 edition, collecting three gold and one silver medal.

Verstappen chose the P Zero Red soft tyre at the start to lead, before switching to the P Zero Yellow medium tyres on lap 25 and conceding his advantage. He regained the lead once his Mercedes rivals had made their single stops, and from there it was a question of managing his medium tyres to the finish: completing a 46-lap stint on the yellow compound to win by 15 seconds.

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY 

With 12 drivers starting on the soft and eight on the medium, there was a big mix of strategies from the start. This was reflected in the key battle between Red Bull and Mercedes, with Mercedes selecting the P Zero White hard tyre for the second stint after an opening stint on the medium. Lewis Hamilton’s second place at the finish equalled his best result of the season set just one week ago in Austin. His team mate George Russell was one of just three drivers to stop twice, putting on the soft tyre at the end to secure an extra championship point for fastest lap on the final tour.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT 

The final mile is the hardest. All the details gathered from the two FP2 test sessions in Austin and Mexico to determine the definitive slick tyre specification for 2023. The teams will try out these tyres for the first time during the test immediately after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which concludes this season. The following weeks will be crucial for Pirelli engineers and technicians, who will be working hard to conclude their efforts for the 2022 season at the Brazilian Grand Prix from November 11-13, followed by the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just a week later.

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed his sixth pole position of the season, using the P Zero Red tyres from start to finish of qualifying.
• Despite a forecast threat of rain during the day, qualifying (which started at 3pm local time) stayed dry with ambient temperatures of 28 degrees centigrade and 48 degrees on track. The chance of rain is lower tomorrow but not insignificant, at around 40% according to Meteo France.
• Mercedes driver George Russell was fastest in FP3, again using the soft tyres. The FP3 session was more important than normal, as the teams were missing some information on the slick tyres (especially the P Zero Yellow medium) after devoting yesterday’s FP2 to tyre testing. With FP3 run at quite a similar time of the day to tomorrow’s race, the information obtained was useful in terms of formulating strategy.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Domit, the President of America Movil and the well-known Escuderia Telmex racing team, which was founded in 2002 to support Latin American drivers at every stage of their careers. Some of the most famous graduates include Pietro Fittipaldi, Tatiana Calderon, and of course Sergio Perez.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

The 71-lap Mexican Grand Prix (the third-shortest lap of the year) could be a two-stopper or a one-stopper, depending on degradation rates, which can vary from team to team and driver to driver – as well as being influenced by the weather.
A two-stopper is fastest on paper: starting on the soft before two stints on the medium. This strategy is only possible for the 10 drivers who have two sets of mediums still available in their allocation. Soft-medium-soft is an alternative two-stopper.
A medium-hard one-stopper is close to that in terms of overall time while the alternative medium to soft one-stopper is definitely slower. 

For Pirelli, the link between road car product and racing tyres forms an integral part of the company’s DNA from the very early days of its history. This is perfectly symbolised by Mexico’s most famous race: the Carrera Panamericana. It’s unique event in terms of tradition and history, originally taking place between 1950 and 1954 across Mexico, which was frequently contested by motorsport’s top stars: just like the Mille Miglia or Targa Florio. Since 1988, it has been revived as a closed-road event for modified historic cars and was sponsored by Pirelli in 2021.

• The in-season test programme for the 2023 tyres is now complete, with the teams next scheduled to drive them at the test that takes place after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when they will sample the definitive specification. As was the case at Austin last weekend, a specially extended 90-minute FP2 session was held for the purposes of tyre testing, even though a 20-minute delay due to a red flag and track repairs interrupted running.
• The fastest time of the day was recorded on the 2022 P Zero Red soft tyres, with Mercedes driver George Russell setting a best FP2 time of 1m19.970 seconds. 
• Weather conditions were sunny in the early afternoon but then overcast for FP2, peaking at 28 degrees centigrade ambient and 42 degrees on track during the first part of the session before significantly decreasing in the second half to 34 degrees. The forecast remains mixed over the weekend, with a chance of rain.
• The teams used their allocated race weekend tyres during FP1, which ran for the normal 60 minutes. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fastest on the P Zero Red soft with a time of 1m20.707s.
• There was a ‘green’ track this morning that nonetheless offered reasonable grip, with some degree of evolution. As the race weekend tyres were run for the most part in FP1 only (as was also the case in Austin) the teams will collect data to finalise their strategies in FP3 tomorrow. The indications so far suggest an estimated performance gap of approximately 1.0 seconds between P Zero White hard and P Zero Yellow medium, and nearly 0.6s between medium and soft.

THE BIG NUMBER: 2397

This was the total number of kilometres covered by the 2023 prototype tyres during today’s FP2 session, involving all 10 teams. Added to the 2823 kilometres covered during FP2 in Austin, this makes a total of 5220 kilometres between the two sessions.

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• As was the case last weekend, the C2 is the P Zero White hard, C3 is the P Zero Yellow medium, and C4 is the P Zero Red soft.
• Mexico is the highest event on the Formula 1 calendar at more than 2200 metres above sea level. The thin air affects engines as well as aerodynamics, generating less downforce at lower speeds especially. With this year’s ground effect floors, it’s going to be interesting to note the impact on downforce compared to last year.
• There’s quite a lot of temperature variation during the day in Mexico, even in the space of a few hours, which affects thermal degradation: an important parameter that the teams will need to monitor.
• The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is the ‘contingency plan’ to replace the cancelled 2023 tyre test planned for the Japanese Grand Prix. The FP2 session in Mexico will run for 90 minutes to assess the softer slick compounds for next year, while in Austin the harder prototypes were run. As was the case last Friday, the entire session will be devoted to the tyre test with Pirelli setting the run plan. If a team uses a young driver for FP1, it is allowed to run its own programme for the first part of FP2 before concentrating on the tyre test for the remainder of the session. The prototype tyres don’t carry coloured markings on the sidewalls.

   
GT  
The FIA Motorsport Games takes place this weekend at Paul Ricard in France, with Pirelli as official tyre supplier. A wide range of more than 3300 tyres will be supplied to cover an equally wide range of disciplines, from single-seaters to rally cars to touring cars – highlighting Pirelli’s engagement in over 250 different championships all over the world.

Rallying  
Toyota driver Sebastien Ogier won the all-asphalt Catalunya Rally de Espana last weekend, on Pirelli P Zero tyres. The championship now draws to a close at Rally Japan next month from 10-13 November, which will also be held on asphalt.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took the lead at the first corner, having started on the P Zero Yellow medium tyre – the same choice that was made by 16 of the 20 starters. Verstappen pitted for P Zero White hard tyres from the lead and then emerged back in front, shortly after Hamilton made a similar stop. Having survived two safety car restarts with his advantage intact, Verstappen made his second stop for another set of medium tyres 20 laps from the end, dropping behind Hamilton – on the hard tyre for the final stint – after a problem in the pits. Chasing down the Mercedes driver, Verstappen eventually won the race by four seconds after managing his tyres perfectly and sealing the 2022 constructors’ title for Red Bull. 

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY 

Haas’s Kevin Magnussen was the highest-placed driver on the grid to start on the hard tyres (from P13) and was the only driver to stop just once, finishing in the points after completing a long 38-lap final stint on the medium tyres. Mercedes driver George Russell was the only driver to stop three times and use the P Zero Red soft tyre, which he fitted two laps from the end to claim an extra championship point for fastest lap.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT 

The Mexican Grand Prix next weekend is run back-to-back with Austin, and the FP2 session in Mexico City will again be dedicated to slick tyre testing for 2023. With plenty of data having been collected on the harder prototype compounds at the Circuit of the Americas, the focus switches to the softer compounds in Mexico.

• Carlos Sainz headed a Ferrari one-two in qualifying, with all the drivers using the P Zero Red soft tyres from start to finish. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished third but will line up alongside Sainz tomorrow – who claims the third pole position of his career – due to a grid penalty for Charles Leclerc. 
• Weather conditions were warm and dry, with ambient temperatures of 32 degrees and track temperatures of 39 degrees at the start of qualifying. There were very strong gusting winds all day, which affected the aerodynamic balance and caused some big slides. Similar conditions are expected tomorrow.
• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen went fastest in FP3 this morning, which was a more important session than usual as yesterday’s 2023 tyre test during FP2 meant that the teams were limited in their experience of the 2022 tyres here. Verstappen used the soft tyres to set his best FP3 time (1m35.825s) right at the end of the session.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award at the Circuit of the Americas was given to Sainz by a fellow Spaniard: last year’s Indycar champion Alex Palou. Palou, who had his first taste of 2022 Formula 1 machinery yesterday with McLaren, was second-fastest of the five guest drivers in FP1, underlining the increasing profile of Formula 1 in America. The 25-year-old is also a former race winner in GP3 and previously competed in Formula 2.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

The best strategy for the 56-lap United States Grand Prix is likely to be a two-stopper, using the P Zero Yellow medium tyres and the P Zero White hard tyres – owing to the high degree of degradation on the soft. 
The fastest way seems set to be one medium stint followed by two stints on the hard: although medium-hard-medium could be a good way forward too. As always, the tyres that each driver has left in their individual allocations will influence the strategy. 
A three-stopper is not to be excluded: especially because there is only a short pit lane time loss in Austin and plenty of possibilities to overtake. 

Pirelli’s race to road philosophy is perfectly encapsulated by the Pirelli Hot Laps programme, which puts racing drivers into roadgoing supercars to give lucky guests an unforgettable experience around five grand prix circuits this year. Many of the best cars in the world are represented in the Pirelli Hot Laps programme on P Zero tyres, with Palou taking the wheel of the McLaren 720S used at the Circuit of the Americas.

• The second free practice session in Austin went as planned, with 90 minutes dedicated to slick tyre development for next year. The run plans and prescriptions were identical for all the teams in order to collect the first batch of data that will be used to define the harder compounds in the 2023 range.
• Five teams (Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Haas, McLaren and Williams) did not run their usual line-up in FP1. This meant that they were allowed to carry out their own pre-race preparations with their regular drivers for the first part of FP2 before doing the Pirelli test for the remainder of the session, following an earlier agreement.
• Conditions were dry and warm all day as expected, peaking at 31 degrees centigrade ambient and 39 degrees on track during FP2. This enabled relevant data to be collected on the harder 2023 compounds throughout the test, held in ideal conditions on a track like Austin that features lateral loads as well as traction and braking.
• The test meant that the usual routine of data collection from FP2 was different to normal. As a result, the work done in FP3 tomorrow will be vital in establishing the performance gaps between the three compounds. The weather conditions in FP1 were similar to FP2, with Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz setting the fastest time of FP1 (1m36.857s) on P Zero Red soft.

THE BIG NUMBER: 2823

This was the total number of kilometres covered by the 2023 prototype tyres during today’s FP2 session, involving 20 cars and all 10 teams. That’s the equivalent of 513 laps: close to 10 grand prix distances in total.

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The middle three compounds have been nominated for Austin: C2 as the P Zero White hard, C3 as the P Zero Yellow medium, and C4 as the P Zero Red soft
• The uneven track surface could make it necessary to run a higher ride height, influencing aerodynamic performance. The teams will need to study the data carefully to find the best set up.
• The United States Grand Prix was a two-stopper last year, but with a completely new range of tyres, it might be a different story this time round – thanks to new regulations, different weather conditions and other variables on track.
• As was the case in Japan, the second free practice session has been extended to 90 minutes to test the 2023 slick tyre prototypes, helping to fine-tune the compounds for next year before the teams get to try the definitive versions after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The entire FP2 session will be devoted to the tyre test, with Pirelli setting the run plan. If a team uses a young driver for FP1, it is allowed to run its own programme for some of FP2, before concentrating on the tyre test for the remainder of the session. The prototype tyres can easily be recognised as they won’t carry coloured markings on the sidewalls.

  
GT 
The Indianapolis 8 Hour, the penultimate round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli, was won by the Mercedes line-up of Daniel Juncadella, Raffaelle Marciello, and Daniel Morad from 15th on the grid. The winning trio claimed their victory by just 0.8 seconds over the Ferrari of Ulysse De Pauw, Antonio Fuoco and Daniel Serra, with the drivers’ title now set to be decided at the series finale: the Gulf 12 Hours.

Rallying 
The Catalunya Rally de Espana, the penultimate round of the Pirelli-equipped World Rally Championship, takes place during the same weekend as the United States Grand Prix. While Kalle Rovanpera has become the sport’s youngest-ever drivers’ champion, the fight for the manufacturers’ title is still open between Toyota and Hyundai.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen qualified on pole in dry conditions and was able to convert that advantage into the lead on the Cinturato Blue full wets. He pitted a couple of laps after the re-start for Cinturato Green intermediates, at the same time as his pursuer Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and re-emerged in the lead – which he maintained to the end after 28 laps.

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY 

With such a short race starting behind the safety car in wet conditions, there was a clear-cut strategy that left little room for variation. However, some drivers initially stayed out on their full wet tyres while the majority pitted for intermediates after the start – hoping to gain track position and take advantage of any potential safety cars. This didn’t materialise though, with all the drivers apart from five stopping just once. The highest-placed two-stopper was Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in seventh.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT 

The teams now head west for three rounds on the American continent: in the USA and Mexico (back-to-back) followed by Brazil two weeks later. With the planned 2023 tyre test during FP2 in Japan cancelled due to rain, this has been moved to Mexico. A similar test is already on the schedule for FP2 in Austin.

• Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was fastest In qualifying, with the top three drivers covered by just six-hundredths of a second, having used the P Zero Red soft tyre from start to finish. The same tactic was used by all the teams, with the exception of Mercedes, which ran the P Zero Yellow medium in Q1.
• Conditions remained dry all day, with qualifying getting underway at 3pm in 21 degrees centigrade ambient and 23 degrees of track temperature.
• Verstappen also went fastest in the hour-long FP3 session this morning, setting fastest time on the soft tyre. With FP3 being the first time that the teams had run the slick compounds, they concentrated on maximising their learning and collecting as much data as possible in a variety of configurations, including long runs.
• With yesterday having been declared wet, the teams were entitled to a carry-over set of slick tyres for FP3, before handing them back as per the regulations. This gave the opportunity for extra running.
• We learned today that the degradation on the soft and medium tyres seems higher than expected, while the performance gap between them is less than the estimation. We saw no graining.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was given to Verstappen by Robert Reid, the current FIA Deputy President for Sport and 2001 World Rally Champion co-driver. Reid, who won his title alongside the late Richard Burns on Pirelli tyres, is closely linked to Japanese motorsport, having competed for manufacturers like Mitsubishi and notably Subaru – with whom he claimed his world championship 21 years ago. In his former role, Reid has also been involved in developing young rally drivers through the Pirelli Star Driver scheme – organised in collaboration with the FIA – and he is additionally a previous winner of the Pirelli International Rally in his native United Kingdom: a round of the British Rally Championship based near Pirelli’s facility in Carlisle.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

With just one hour of free practice this morning, the teams are lacking dry data for the 53-lap Japanese Grand Prix. The fastest strategy on paper is a two-stopper using the soft and medium tyres: probably with the medium used once during the middle stint. Soft followed by two medium stints is another viable two-stopper, for those with two mediums left.
A one-stopper could be possible as well, depending on degradation rates. This could be soft to P Zero White hard, or medium to hard – which is slightly slower on paper but requires less management. What’s clear is that all three compounds have a valid role to play tomorrow and a wide variety of strategies are theoretically possible.
The weather and track conditions on Sunday will ultimately decide the way to go. Track temperatures are expected to be a bit cooler than today and there’s a still a chance of rain.
This might favour the softer compounds – while the wet running yesterday could turn out to be extremely useful as well.

Suzuka is a perfect example of Pirelli’s ‘race to road’ philosophy, of using competition to improve the road car product. The epic circuit was originally conceived as a test track: similar to Pirelli’s own test tracks in Italy and further afield that the Italian firm uses to refine its ultra high performance tyres over a wide range of conditions and surfaces. Suzuka was commissioned by Soichiro Honda in the late 1950s as the first proper circuit in Japan, completed in September 1962. It’s well-known as a demanding yet balanced track that challenges every aspect of a vehicle’s dynamics. This makes it an ideal venue for testing.

• Mercedes driver George Russell was fastest on the Cinturato Green intermediate tyres on a wet day of free practice in Suzuka, heading his team mate Lewis Hamilton in FP2. The Cinturato Blue full wet tyres were also used today, with no slick tyre running at all.
• The planned 2023 slick tyre test during FP2 was cancelled due to the wet conditions and will now take place during FP2 in Mexico instead. The FP2 session still ran for an extended 90 minutes as scheduled, but with the teams using the tyres in their regular race weekend allocation.
• Conditions were cool all day, with free practice finishing in temperatures of 16 degrees centigrade ambient and 19 degrees on track. Tomorrow is expected to be warmer and dry, but there’s a strong chance that the rain could return for race day on Sunday.
• Alpine driver Fernando Alonso was fastest in a wet FP1 on the intermediates, with the full wets also used.
• The wet conditions made it impossible to confirm the expected performance gaps between the slick compounds: the estimate is 1.3 seconds between P Zero White hard and P Zero Yellow medium, and 1.2 seconds between medium and P Zero Red soft.

THE BIG NUMBER: 1m48s

This was the crossover point confirmed during free practice: the moment at which the track conditions mean that it becomes faster to move onto the intermediate tyres rather than the full wets. Then from intermediates to slick, the crossover is estimated to be 1m40s. This information is useful to the teams as it can influence the strategy during a wet race.

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The trio of hardest compounds return in Japan: C1 as the P Zero White hard, C2 as the P Zero Yellow medium, and C3 as the P Zero Red soft. This will be the final outing for the hardest C1 compound this year.
• The second free practice session in Japan has been extended to 90 minutes in order to allow 2023 prototype slick tyre testing (with the same arrangement in place for the United States Grand Prix). The Suzuka and Austin tests are there to fine-tune the compounds for 2023, with the entire FP2 session devoted to tyre testing. If a team uses a young driver for FP1, it is allowed to run its own programme for the first 30 minutes of FP2, before concentrating on the tyre test for the remainder of the session. The prototype tyres can easily be recognised as they won’t carry coloured markings on the sidewalls.
• Like Singapore that came just one week before, the Japanese Grand Prix was last held in 2019. The challenge is made even greater with the teams having to approach the circuit, weather conditions, and set-up in a completely new way with the latest generation of cars and tyres.
• Suzuka is all about lateral forces rather than traction and braking, but the loads are quite evenly balanced between the left and right hand sides of the car. The cars and tyres are subjected to some of the longest sustained g force loadings seen throughout the year. 130R, for example, is a long radius corner (of 130 degrees) but it’s taken flat-out, as if it were a straight.

 
Rallying
Toyota driver Kalle Rovanpera won Rally New Zealand last weekend, using Pirelli Scorpion gravel tyres. At 22, Rovanpera has become the youngest champion in WRC history, beating the previous record set by Colin McRae – also on Pirelli tyres – in 1995, who won the title aged 27.

GT
The penultimate round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge – exclusively equipped by Pirelli – takes place at Indianapolis this weekend, with Mercedes driver Jules Gounon currently leading the standings. Last weekend, the final round of this year’s GT World Challenge took place in Barcelona, with Alessio Picariello, Klaus Bachler and Matteo Cairoli winning the race for Dinamic Porsche.  

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez underlined his status as the man to beat on street circuits, following his Monaco victory earlier this year. He won the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari team mates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The top three all crossed the finish line on P Zero Yellow medium tyres. 

The start of the race was delayed for an hour following a rainstorm that fell shortly before the cars were due to go to the grid. Once the rain had stopped, racing got underway on a wet track with all the cars on the Cinturato Green intermediate. More than half the race elapsed before the track was suitable for slicks. 

Once more, the Safety Car played a prominent role in Singapore. The first Safety Car period came on lap seven, with nobody electing to stop for fresh tyres. There was then a Virtual Safety Car on lap 21, when Mercedes driver George Russell was the first to go onto P Zero Yellow medium slicks. The other teams eventually followed the same strategy, with the exception of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alfa Romero driver Valtteri Bottas, who both chose the P Zero Red soft. Excitement in the closing stages came from Leclerc and Perez trading fastest laps, with the Mexican’s final effort being a 1m48.165s on the mediums. 

THE BEST OF THE REST

The McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo got the best use out of the Cinturato Green intermediate, completing the longest stint of 36 laps on them. The team split the strategies, with both drivers stopping only once but Norris going onto medium and Ricciardo onto soft. The result was fourth and fifth places, with strong points for the British squad. 

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who started from eighth on the grid, managed to finish in the points after losing several positions. He made two pit stops in quick succession: taking the mediums on lap 35 before swapping them for softs five laps later. The championship leader eventually took the flag in seventh. 

Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher also stopped just once with split strategies, finishing in 12th and 13th places on the medium and soft tyres respectively. 

• Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was fastest in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, with a pole time of 1m49.412s on the P Zero Red soft. He heads Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on tomorrow’s grid.
• The day was characterised by intermittent rain, which means that the teams used both the slicks as well as wet-weather tyres on the Marina Bay circuit. The surface seemed to dry up more quickly during FP3 compared to qualifying two hours later, when the track remained wet for longer, meaning that the teams weren’t able to make a quick switch to slicks.
• ·With both the Cinturato Green intermediate tyres as well as the P Zero Red soft tyres used in Q3, it was possible to evaluate the crossover point during qualifying quite precisely. This seemed to be lower than initial estimates, at around 1m52s. That information could be important for tomorrow’s race, which might also be wet.
• The cars took to the track for FP3 half an hour after the start of the session, once the rain was less intense with the track more driveable. During the session, some teams moved quite rapidly from the Cinturato Blue full wets onto the intermediates. Leclerc was again quickest, with a time of 1m57.782s on the intermediates.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by celebrity architect Paul Noritaka Tange, who heads up Tange Associates. The firm founded by his father Kenzo Tange has designed famous buildings all over the world, including the Tokyo National Gymnasium for the 1964 Olympic Games, as well as the Olympic Aquatics Centre for the recent 2020 Games in the same city. In Singapore, Tange has been responsible for an impressive array of projects such as the country’s closed stadium as well as the Cathay JadeScape and Lee Kuan Yew Tower. As a result, he is  recognised as a key player in the ‘mutual co-operation’ between Japan and Singapore.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

If it stays dry, the best strategy for the Singapore Grand Prix should be a one-stopper. This could involve starting on the P Zero Yellow medium tyres and running them until between laps 22 and 28, before going onto the P Zero White hard until the flag. An alternative would be to run the P Zero Red soft for between 18 and 24 laps after the start, before switching to hard. There are a number of well-known external factors that often influence strategy in Singapore: every race held at Marina Bay has featured at least one safety car, while today also showed how the weather poses a question mark for tomorrow. There’s still a chance of heavy rain showers, which are much more difficult to predict than at other races in the championship.

THE WORLD OF PIRELLI

As part of the celebrations for Pirelli’s 150 years and Singapore’s return to Formula 1, there was a function held earlier this week at the new Italian embassy headquarters between government representatives, Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola, and key local media.

• For the famous Singapore night race, Pirelli takes to the track with the softest three tyres in the Formula 1 range. For the fifth time this year, the C3 has been nominated as the P Zero White hard, the C4 as the P Zero Yellow medium and the C5 as the P Zero Red soft, on a street circuit that is usually characterised by a high rate of track evolution, weather permitting.
• The performance gap between the compounds is in line with the expectations of Pirelli’s engineers: 0.8 seconds between hard and medium, and around 0.6 seconds between and soft.
• It’s interesting to note how the floor package on the cars, combined with Singapore’s slow corners, translates into less aerodynamic downforce, resulting in higher lap times compared to other circuits.
• The track was dry during today’s free practice sessions, which took place with a slight breeze. The FP1 session ran at sunset, while FP2 took place at night under the lights. Temperatures remained stable at between 35 and 37 degrees in FP1, before dipping by a couple of degrees in FP2. Tomorrow the forecast is for rain during the morning and afternoon (with a 60% chance of precipitation, according to Meteo France).
• In FP1, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the best time of 1m43.033s on soft tyres, ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz went fastest in FP2 in the other Ferrari thanks to a time of 1m42.587 on the soft, ahead of Leclerc and the  Mercedes of George Russell.

THE BIG NUMBER: 1700

This is the number of lights that illuminate the sparkling Marina Bay circuit. These lights, which characterise the Singapore Grand Prix, have a power of 2000W and were installed by Italian firm DZ Engineering from Forli. The whole operation, which involves putting up and taking down pylons, projectors, generators, electrical cabins, and wiring, takes nearly six months to complete.

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The three softest compounds have been chosen for Singapore (for the first time since Austria): the P Zero White hard is the C3, the P Zero Yellow medium is the C4, and the P Zero Red soft is the C5. These compounds have been chosen to match the typical street circuit characteristics of the Marina Bay track, ensuring high levels of mechanical grip.
• There’s some new asphalt for Singapore this year. This isn’t as smooth as the asphalt usually seen on street circuits, having been put down with a view to the grand prix. However, as a street circuit, the Marina Bay circuit is used by normal road traffic most of the time – and the surface contains street furniture such as white lines and manhole covers. A high degree of track evolution is expected; also because there are not many support races scheduled, which help to lay down rubber.
• With the race starting at 8pm local time (GMT +8)  and continuing for about two hours, track temperatures are generally stable for most of the race, while high humidity levels provide a big physical challenge for the drivers, the cars and also for the tyres, with thermal degradation.

 
WRC
Rally New Zealand, exclusively equipped by Pirelli, takes place during the same weekend as the Singapore Grand Prix and is another event returning to action after a prolonged absence, having last been held at world level in 2012.

GT
The final round of the GT World Challenge – a championship that has run only on Pirelli tyres since 2012 and forms part of Pirelli’s portfolio of nearly 250 car championships worldwide – also happens during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, in Barcelona.
At the latest round in Valencia, Audi drivers Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts claimed the Sprint title for the third year in a row, while Mercedes driver Raffaele Marciello won the overall GT World Challenge Europe driver’s title.

Formula 3
The official post-season Formula 3 test took place at Jerez in Spain last week for three days, with 16 new drivers lining up alongside 14 established names. The teams used Pirelli’s P Zero White hard tyres, with each car allocated eight new sets alongside three sets of the wet compound.

“A celebration of Italian automotive technology and know-how”
“We are proud to play a prominent part in this celebration of Italian automotive technology and know-how at our home grand prix, on the occasion of Monza’s centenary and Pirelli’s 150 years.
As well as also producing motorsport tyres at the cutting edge of technology for nearly 250 championships worldwide, we sustain culture and support the arts through Pirelli HangarBicocca in particular, so Pirelli wanted to mark this occasion with a unique trophy that has a direct relevance to the pinnacle of world motorsport. Many thanks to Patrick Tuttofuoco and Pirelli HangarBicocca for making it happen through an iconic artwork that perfectly links past and present.”

TYRE TALES: HOW THE RACE WAS WON

It took Red Bull’s Max Verstappen just 12 laps to rise from P7 on the grid to the race lead after Ferrari’s poleman Charles Leclerc pitted under a virtual safety car. They were two of five drivers to start on the P Zero Red soft tyres, with the other 15 starting on the P Zero Yellow medium. Verstappen pitted for his only scheduled stop on lap 25, underlining the low degradation of the soft, before re-emerging in second on the medium and taking the lead once more when Leclerc made his second stop. A safety car close to the end triggered another round of stops, but this did not alter the overall classification, with the race ending under the safety car.

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY

There was a variety of different strategies seen today, with eight different strategies in the top 10. While the winning strategy was likely to have been a one-stopper (without the safety car) Leclerc committed to a two-stopper using soft and medium, while Mercedes driver George Russell was the only podium finisher to use the P Zero White hard as part of his run plan.

EON

Patrick Tuttofuoco’s Eon trophy, echoed within the design of the famous podium overlooking the track at Monza this year, is named after the longest measurable unit of time, which borders on the infinite. The artist chose this theme in order to portray a never-ending loop that evokes the cyclical nature of time, which is closely linked to the power and speed that symbolises modern Formula 1.

PATRICK TUTTOFUOCO AND PIRELLI HANGARBICOCCA

Patrick Tuttofuoco was born in 1974 in Milan, where he still lives and works. With a 30-year artistic career, he is one of the best-known personalities on the Italian scene. He works in sculpture, video, neon, and installation, and uses light and colour to create atmospheres and emotions. The Pirelli HangarBicocca is a well-known artistic institution inhabiting a former warehouse now owned and supported by Pirelli next to the company’s headquarters in Milan, which is used as a museum of contemporary art.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT

The European season isn’t quite over yet, as Pirelli remains at Monza for a one-day 2023 prototype tyre test at Monza on Tuesday, with Red Bull. The remaining six races of the championship now take place in Asia, America, and the Middle East.

• Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, in a special yellow tribute livery, claimed a 17^th career pole position and his eighth of the season, in front of the Scuderia’s home crowd. The Monegasque driver qualified in front of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz (although the start order tomorrow will be affected by grid penalties).
• The weather was warm and dry, with ambient temperatures of 30 degrees centigrade and track temperatures of 41 degrees centigrade during qualifying.
• All the drivers used the P Zero Red soft tyre from start to finish of qualifying. Both the Red Bulls and Ferraris used just one set to get through Q1 and Q2. The soft tyres proved well-suited to the qualifying hour in Monza, showing a strong and consistent level of grip.
• The FP3 session took place earlier this afternoon, which is more representative of race conditions thanks to more comparable weather conditions and fuel loads than qualifying. This has been the case for a number of FP3 sessions this year already. Verstappen was fastest in FP3 on the soft tyre.
• Gabriel Omar Batistuta, known as the “Angel Gabriel” presented today’s Pirelli Pole Position Award. The Argentine footballer, rated as one of the greatest strikers of all time, started his career at home before making a name for himself in Italy, where he played for clubs like Fiorentina, Roma, and Inter Milan, which has enjoyed a long association with Pirelli.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

The 53 laps of the Pirelli-sponsored Italian Grand Prix at Monza’s “Temple of Speed” should be a one-stop race, thanks to the relatively contained degradation levels expected if the weather remains as forecast, not to mention a comparatively big pit lane time loss. The best one-stopper on paper involves starting on the soft to make the most of its initial grip, before moving onto the P Zero White Hard, which should provide a consistent and competitive performance in the predicted warm weather conditions. The alternative one-stopper consists of a longer initial stint on the P Zero Yellow Medium before then going on to the hard.   

The very first grand prix at Monza, 100 years ago in 1922, was won by a Fiat 804 wearing Pirelli Superflex Cord tyres, known as the “tyre of victory”. The Superflex Cord was also sold as a tyre for road cars, with Pirelli’s tradition of transferring race technology to the road dating back as long as the history of the Monza circuit itself.

• The three tyres in the middle of Pirelli’s range performed exactly as expected during the free practice sessions at Monza: the first opportunity for the teams to sample the 18-inch tyres and new cars at the ‘temple of speed’, which is celebrating its 100^th birthday this year.
• The performance gaps between the compounds are currently at around 0.6 seconds per lap between P Zero White hard and P Zero Yellow medium, and 0.4 seconds between medium and P Zero Red soft. Track evolution so far has been quite high, also due to some rain earlier in the day.
• Once the track dried, the weather was warm and dry for both free practice sessions, peaking at 38 degrees of track temperature and 28 degrees ambient in FP1. The FP2 session, starting at 5pm, was slightly cooler and therefore less representative of qualifying and the race. The weather is expected to be warm and dry for the rest of the weekend.
• The tyres also performed well on the new asphalt at Variante del Rettifilo (T1-2), Variante della Roggia (T4-5) and Variante Ascari (T8-10).
• Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc went quickest in FP1, using the soft tyre, while it was the turn of his team mate Carlos Sainz to top the times in FP2, again with the soft.

THE BIG NUMBER: 1872

1872 – specifically January 28 – was when Giovanni Battista Pirelli initially established a company to produce elastic rubber items, exactly 150 years ago in Milan, opening his first plant (which was also the first in Italy) a year later. The tyres that Pirelli made initially were actually for bicycles, before the first car tyres were produced in 1901.

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The three compounds in the middle of the range have been chosen for Monza: C2 as the P Zero White hard, C3 as the P Zero Yellow medium, and C4 as the P Zero Red soft.
• Eliminating the natural understeer tendency of the current cars is a challenge at the slow corners in Monza, with a strong rear end needed to achieve a perfect balance through the fast sections.
• Traction is important to ensure a good drive into the flat-out straights from the slower and more technical parts of the circuit: another well-known characteristic of Monza, with notable kerbs at the chicanes.
• The low downforce settings, with a specific low-drag package, mean that the focus is more on mechanical grip from the tyres.

FORMULA 2
The P Zero Yellow medium and P Zero Red soft tyres are nominated, Each driver has five sets of slick tyres (three medium and two soft) to use across the weekend. The sprint race, lasting 21 laps, takes place on Saturday evening ahead of the 30-lap feature race on Sunday morning.

FORMULA 3
Drivers have three new sets of P Zero Red soft tyres, plus another set of P Zero Yellow mediums carried over from the previous round for use in free practice. An 18-lap sprint race will be held on Saturday morning, followed by a feature race of 22 laps early on Sunday morning.

FORMULA 1   
The final European test for next year’s prototype P Zero slick tyres will take place in Monza on Tuesday after the grand prix, with Red Bull.

WRC   
The legendary Acropolis Rally, round 10 of the World Rally Championship, takes place during the same weekend as the Italian Grand Prix. The Greek event is run on gravel, with all the field using Pirelli Scorpion tyres.

GT   
It’s a busy few weeks in the Pirelli-equipped GT World Challenge. Last weekend was the Hockenheim round in Germany, which was won by di Mies, Niederhauser and Legeret, from Audi Santeloc Junior Team. Next weekend, the final round of the Gt World Challenge Sprint Cup takes place at Spain’s Valencia circuit.

“With the energy and the passion of the fans at Zandvoort still ringing in our ears, we had to Monza: an incredibly important venue for Formula 1, where we celebrate 100 years of the circuit and 150 years of Pirelli: an Italian institution that is synonymous with motorsport. Today once more the tyres showed themselves to be perfect, by allowing for different strategies, increasing the number of on-track battles as well as overtaking moves, and helping us to deliver a successful and spectacular product that people love, while still guaranteeing the safety that is essential for a sport such as F1. This is a global success that we’d like to celebrate at Monza in style, hoping also that there’s space for a bit of red there too after all this orange!”

TYRE TALES: HOW THE RACE WAS WON

The phenomenal performance of the P Zero White hard tyre, along with a virtual safety car and safety car, influenced the outcome of the race. Verstappen started from pole on the soft tyre in his Red Bull and then switched to the medium tyre, which gave Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton – who had started on the medium – an advantage in terms of track position. Once Hamilton switched to the hard, he was able to make his pace count. But during the race neutralisations, Red Bull made exactly the right strategy calls, with all the frontrunners making the same number of tyre changes in the end. At the final re-start, Verstappen found himself on soft tyres behind Hamilton on the medium tyres, and he was able to use the speed of this compound to help make the difference.

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY

Of the 20 drivers on the grid, 16 started on the soft tyre and just four on the medium – including both Mercedes. This set up a brilliant alternative strategy, as it unlocked the door to a one-stopper, thanks to the incredibly low degradation of the hard tyre over a long stint. Mercedes was the first to realise this, which is what put them in a position to challenge for victory from P4 on the grid – but then the safety car periods mixed up the cards.

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed a home pole position, using the P Zero Red soft tyre from beginning to end of qualifying, ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The top three were covered by less than a tenth of a second.
• All the drivers used the soft from start to finish of qualifying, which was dry and warm with 30 degrees ambient and 41 degrees of track temperature. Tomorrow, there’s a 40% chance of rain currently forecast.
• The soft tyre showed low degradation even on a full fuel load in FP3 (where Leclerc went fastest).
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by one of the biggest sporting personalities in the Netherlands: ‘the King of Kick Boxing’ Rico Verhoeven. Rated as number one in the word and considered a role model for youngsters throughout the country, Verhoeven is also a well-known ambassador for family values and positivity, pushing fairness in fighting beyond the limits of sport. Verhoeven is passionate fan of supercars on road and track; he is currently finishing a film as well, due for release next year.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

The 72-lap Dutch Grand Prix is quickest on paper as a two-stopper, but that doesn’t exclude a one-stopper.
If going for a two-stopper, starting on the soft is a good idea. This could then be followed by two stints on the P Zero Yellow medium (if enough medium tyres are available within a driver’s allocation, as is the case for Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes) or one stint on the medium with a final stint on the soft again.
A one-stopper could either be medium to P Zero White hard or soft to hard (to have some extra speed at the beginning of the race). A soft-medium one-stopper is also possible, but it’s marginal for wear life, with a lot of pace management required.
Starting on the medium gives different options, but either a one-stopper or a two-stopper is still achievable even if starting on the soft.
There are a few variables affecting these theoretical calculations, such as the amount of degradation on the soft tyre and the amount of grip on the hard. This is an old-school circuit with not much run-off, and the action so far suggests that a safety car could be likely – which means a cheap pit stop. With this year’s generation of cars and tyres helping to overtake, track position might not be the priority that it was before: this could favour some more aggressive two-stop strategies. One more point: at 60kph, the pit lane speed limit is lower here than at most other tracks, meaning that it takes a bit longer to make a pit stop.

• The 18-inch tyre performed well on its debut at Zandvoort, with the choice to bring the three hardest compounds working exactly as anticipated on the demanding Dutch track, according to the data gathered in free practice.
• The performance gaps between the compounds is currently at around 1.2 seconds per lap between P Zero White hard and P Zero Yellow medium, and 0.7 seconds between medium and P Zero Red soft. The gap between hard and medium is quite high, but this could come down as more rubber gets laid onto track, with the weather expected to remain stable.
• There are some new ‘glued’ gravel traps designed to keep drivers within track limits this year, which seem to work well and don’t affect the tyres. The stones within this special gravel are round and smooth, held together by a tough epoxy resin.
• With Mercedes taking the first and second spots in FP1 and Ferrari also sealing a one-two in FP2 (always on the soft tyre) the scene seems set for a closely-fought and unpredictable weekend. A number of red flags and off-track incidents interrupted the support race sessions as well today.

THE BIG NUMBER: 17

There have been 17 Dutch drivers in the history of Formula 1, with the most experienced and successful being Max Verstappen, in his 156th race this weekend. The second-most experienced Dutch F1 driver is his father Jos, who entered 107 races. Between them, they have made up more than half the participations recorded by Dutch drivers in Formula 1, thanks to personalities such as Christijan Albers, Jan Lammers, Huub Rothengatter and Giedo Van Der Garde: the last Dutch driver to regularly compete in F1 before Verstappen Junior (source: Forix). 

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The three hardest compounds have been chosen for Zandvoort: C1 as the P Zero White hard, C2 as the P Zero Yellow medium, and C3 as the P Zero Red soft.
• This year there’s a bigger gap between the C1 and C2 compounds than there was previously: another reason why teams might concentrate more on the two softer compounds this weekend.
• The banking on Turns 3 and 14 is around 18 degrees: by way of comparison, the historic banking on the old circuit at Monza (up next on the calendar) is roughly 30 degrees on average. Of other modern circuits, Indianapolis has nine degrees of banking and Jeddah has 12 degrees.
• Zandvoort generates some big g forces all around the 4.2-kilometre track: braking into Turns 1 and 11 is a deceleration of about 5g, while Turn 7 also provides lateral forces of around 5g.
• As the name suggests, Zandvoort can be affected by sand blowing onto the surface: the coastal location can also lead to frequent changes in wind direction.

FORMULA 2
The P Zero White hard and P Zero Red soft tyres have been nominated. Each driver has five sets of slick tyres (three hard and two soft) to use across the weekend. The sprint race, lasting 29 laps, takes place on Saturday afternoon ahead of the 40-lap feature race on Sunday morning. 

FORMULA 3
Drivers have three new sets of P Zero Yellow medium tyres to use across the weekend, plus another set of mediums carried over from the previous round for use in free practice. A 21-lap sprint race will be held on Saturday morning, followed by a feature race of 26 laps early on Sunday morning.

GT   
Round eight of the GT World Challenge, the penultimate race of the Endurance Cup, takes place at Hockenheim in Germany during the same weekend as the Dutch Grand Prix. The GT World Challenge, featuring racing versions of supercars exclusively equipped with Pirelli tyres, last raced at Zandvoort in mid-June.

For further information about the Dutch Grand Prix, click here.

Owing to grid penalties, Verstappen started the race from 14^th on the grid, opting for the P Zero Red soft tyre to make his way rapidly through the field during the opening stages. By lap 12 he had taken the lead, which he held until his first stop on lap 16 for P Zero Yellow medium tyres. Two laps later he was back in the lead, and he was able to make his final pit stop for another set of new mediums, 14 laps from the finish, without losing his advantage. He went on to take his second consecutive win from the midfield after Hungary, where he started 10^th on the grid.

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY

There was a wide variety of strategies today, with three different strategies in the top three. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who finished second, didn't use the soft tyre: instead starting on the medium from the front row of the grid before taking on a second set of mediums and then the P Zero White hard for his final stint. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz used the soft tyre to lead from pole, maintaining his advantage until his first stop on lap 12 – and using all three compounds to finish on the podium. In total, 16 cars stopped twice and two stopped three times.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT

The Dutch Grand Prix next weekend: one of the shortest distances to travel between races, with Zandvoort situated just over 300 kilometres from Spa. A convoy of 12 Pirelli trucks will make the six-hour journey.

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but he is one of many drivers taking a grid penalty tomorrow, so Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – second quickest in the session – will start from pole position. All the drivers used the P Zero Red soft tyres to set their qualifying times.
• Conditions were cool throughout the qualifying hour (delayed for 25 minutes for barrier repairs after an earlier accident) with 17 degrees ambient and 22 degrees of track temperature.
• One of the stand-out performances in qualifying today was from Williams driver Alex Albon, who will line up on tomorrow’s grid in P6. 
• Red Bull driver Sergio Perez went fastest in FP3 earlier today on the soft tyre, where conditions were once more cool and dry. 
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by Belgian racing legend Jacky Ickx: a six-time Le Mans winner who also won eight Formula 1 grands prix and finishing runner-up in the F1 drivers’ championship twice (in 1969 and 1970), as well as triumphing on the Dakar Rally in 1983.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

The 44 laps of the Belgian Grand Prix can be tackled with either a one-stop or a two-stop strategy, although there are different permutations of one-stopper possible, along with a more aggressive two-stop strategy. 
So far weather conditions have been variable but tomorrow should be a bit warmer, with the tactical picture made more complex by the fact that a number of fast cars will be starting from the back due to grid penalties. 
Starting on the P Zero Yellow medium is the most flexible approach, which gives the option to switch to either the P Zero White hard or the P Zero Red soft as part of a one-stopper, while leaving the door open for a two-stopper if needed. Starting on the soft doesn’t exclude a one-stopper, but it requires either an early stop for the hard or careful management to then go on the medium. 
A different and more aggressive approach could be to use the soft as a part of two-stopper, perhaps with two stints on the medium tyre. This might compromise track position but could be a good option for a fast car if there is a safety car, or degradation on the soft turns out to be quite high. 
That will be largely dependent on the weather conditions, but tomorrow is likely to be run in conditions that none of the teams have experienced yet.

The P Zero name seen in Formula 1 has its origins in a road car tyre, which was created by Pirelli for the Ferrari F40 in 1987. The internal code for this special ultra high performance tyre project was P0, but when it was finally put into production, the name stuck – and the P Zero brand was born as Pirelli’s ultimate family of sporting tyres.

• On a cool and cloudy day at Spa where track temperatures peaked at just 23 degrees, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen went fastest in FP2 on the P Zero Red soft tyre – but he won't be in contention to start from pole, as his team has already confirmed that he will take some grid penalties on Sunday, along with a few other drivers. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was quickest in FP1.
• There was intermittent drizzle throughout the day, which resulted in some short runs on the Cinturato Green intermediates as well as the three slick compounds. The majority of running took place on the slick tyres, with the softs setting the fastest time in both sessions. 
• With smooth new asphalt, remodelled gravel traps, and a high degree of track evolution, there was plenty for the drivers to get used to. The track evolution today makes the performance gaps hard to calculate, but there’s currently an estimated gap of around 0.9 seconds between hard and medium, and 0.6 seconds between medium and soft. Even though the gap between hard and medium seems quite high, this should be seen in the context of the longest lap on the calendar.

THE BIG NUMBER: 1.3

A total of 1.3 kilometres, out of an overall track length of 7.004 kilometres, have been resurfaced  with new asphalt this year as part of a series of modifications at Spa. As well as the new asphalt on five corners, including the famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex, there are new gravel traps on four corners.

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The three compounds in the middle of the range have been chosen for Spa: C2 as the P Zero White hard, C3 as the P Zero Yellow medium, C4 as the P Zero Red soft.
• The asphalt is new between Turns 2 and 4, and Turns 8 and 9, with the bumps removed and increased grip.
• Gravel traps have been added close to the track at Turns 1, 6, 7, and 9. The gravel features sharp stones, and there are also some sharp edges close to the concrete kerbing.
• Spa is one of the most demanding circuits for tyres on the calendar, featuring particularly high lateral loads. The famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex is just one of the places where tyres are subjected to multiple forces: pushed into the ground by downforce and compression, while cornering at the same time.
• Variable weather is always a famous hallmark of Spa, making an outing for the Cinturato Green intermediate or Cinturato Blue full wet tyre a distinct possibility.

FORMULA 2
The P Zero Yellow medium and P Zero Red soft tyres have been nominated, Each driver has five sets of slick tyres (three medium and two soft) to use across the weekend. The sprint race, lasting 18 laps, takes place on Saturday afternoon ahead of the 25-lap feature race on Sunday morning.

FORMULA 3
Drivers have three new sets of P Zero Yellow medium tyres to use across the weekend, plus another set of mediums carried over from the previous round for use in free practice. A 15-lap sprint race will be held on Saturday morning, followed by a feature race of 18 laps on Sunday.

RALLYING  
Pirelli completes an action-packed two weeks of Belgian motorsport at Spa, with the all-asphalt Ypres Rally Belgium taking place last weekend as part of the World Rally Championship. Hyundai driver Ott Tänak won the event, using the latest-generation Pirelli P Zero rally tyres.

PIKES PEAK  
Pirelli has set a new record during the 100th running of the legendary Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado, USA, with a P Zero Trofeo-equipped Lamborghini Urus driven by multiple hill climb champion Simone Faggioli setting a new benchmark for production SUVs.

For further information about the Belgian Grand Prix, please visit: https://racingspot.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/race/the-spa-francorchamps-gp-the-lap-of-the-gods?_ga=2.2913779.237505788.1661154154-2068578986.1600155032

• From P10 on the grid, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix with a two-stop strategy, starting on the P Zero Red soft tyre and then doing two stints on the P Zero Yellow medium: the strategy we had predicted as fastest.
• The two Mercedes were second and third, each on a different run plan from each other and Verstappen, to make it three different strategies in the top three. There were different strategies all the way down the grid, with half the field starting on the medium and the other half on the soft.
• The weather made the Hungarian Grand Prix extremely complicated: the race was run in cool conditions (around 20 degrees ambient and 25 on track) with rain just before and during the final couple of laps of the race. Some strong winds also affected the aerodynamic balance.
• Pirelli now remains in Hungary for more 2023 prototype slick tyre testing, with Aston Martin and Mercedes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 HOW THE COMPOUNDS MADE THE DIFFERENCE

• HARD C2: The cool weather did not really suit the hard today, but it was a vital component in the one-stop strategy for the Alpine drivers, who both finished in the points. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas also targeted a one-stop strategy using the hard.
• MEDIUM C3:  The optimal race tyre, which was well-balanced in these conditions and able to complete stints in excess of 30 laps, showing moderate and manageable degradation.
• SOFT C4: Used extensively during the race and showed strong performance in the cool conditions that allowed its speed and grip to come to the fore – as George Russell showed when he led throughout the early stages.

 “With plenty of overtaking, some exciting duels, lots of different strategies, and a breathtaking finale, Budapest certainly lived up to all our expectations!”

“I’m very happy for the hundreds of thousands of spectators who came to the track and all the other fans around the world who saw three teams in a close fight for victory for the first time this season. This is a win for everyone in Formula 1, and it was also great to see around 10 different tyre strategies during the race – with every compound used – which all played their part in delivering an exciting and spectacular grand prix, just as we have seen all year so far. Budapest now marks the beginning of the summer break, but not straight away for us: on Tuesday and Wednesday we stay here at the Hungaroring to continue our 2023 testing programme. It’s the final push before the holidays, which we will tackle safe in the knowledge of all the work that has been carried out thanks to the efforts of everyone at Pirelli: both present on the track, and back at base in Milan.”

Formula 2
There were split strategies in the 37-lap Formula 2 feature race, with a similar number of drivers in the top 10 of the grid starting on the P Zero Red soft and P Zero Yellow medium. The winning strategy turned out to be soft to medium, with the soft runners able to take advantage of their extra speed in the relatively cool conditions. Race winner Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) switched from soft to medium on lap seven, while the highest-placed finisher on the alternative strategy was his team mate Frederik Vesti, who ended up fourth.

Formula 3
MP Motorsport driver Alexander Smolyar won from pole in the changeable conditions of the 24-lap Formula 3 feature race, with all the drivers starting on the Cinturato Blue rain tyre. Not all of them stayed on it though as many made a pit stop for P Zero slicks, with the crossover point coming at around lap 20. Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan made the most of the opportunity offered by the slick, fighting back to fourth at the finish.

• Mercedes driver George Russell took his debut pole at the end of a tense qualifying session at the Hungaroring. Following earlier rain, the track dried in time for the start of qualifying at 4pm CET, with all the drivers using the P Zero Red soft tyre from start to finish.
• Conditions were cool throughout the day, but warmed up slightly during the qualifying hour, with the session ending in 24 degrees ambient and 33 degrees of track temperature.
• The FP3 session was held in wet conditions, topped by Williams driver Nicholas Latifi on the intermediates in the closing stages.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen from Denmark, a former single-seater racer who went on to become the king of endurance racing.
• This weekend also marks Pirelli’s biggest event, the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium, where the Italian firm brings 17,000 tyres to equip all the classes. Kristensen competed at the Spa 24 Hours only once, 10 years ago, finishing the 2012 event sixth overall in an Audi R8.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

The 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix could be either a one-stopper or a two-stopper. With cooler weather tomorrow, yesterday’s practice running suggests that the soft could be a viable race tyre, as part of either a one-stop or a two-stop strategy. A one-stopper could be soft to hard, or medium to hard (which requires a bit less management over the opening stint). Most drivers will probably stop only once, in order to safeguard track position.
But a two-stopper is also a good option, very close to a one-stopper in terms of overall time. The obvious two-stopper would be soft-medium-medium, but soft-medium-soft is another interesting option – with the cars much lighter towards the end of the race.

“Congratulations to George for his first pole: he put together an ideal lap at exactly the right moment to secure a P1 start tomorrow. Today hasn't been easy with the changing conditions: although it was dry for qualifying, tomorrow’s weather is still uncertain, with cool conditions expected again. With the track ‘reset’ as a result of the earlier rain, we saw a lot of track evolution during qualifying, which meant that setting a fast lap at the last possible moment was key to getting a good time.”

Formula 2
Virtuosi driver Jack Doohan converted pole position into his second  race win of the season, with all the drivers using the P Zero Yellow medium tyres throughout the 28-lap sprint race, held in warm and dry conditions with no obligatory pit stops. The race was interrupted by a safety car shortly after the start, with Doohan managing the re-start perfectly to fend off a strong attack from the Hitech car of Juri Vips, who closed to within a second of him on occasions.

Formula 3
MP Motorsport driver Caio Collett took a debut victory in the rainy 19-lap sprint race this morning, run on Cinturato Blue full wet tyres (Formula 3 doesn’t use intermediates). Starting fourth on the grid, the Brazilian’s margin of victory was an impressive 8.7 seconds after he took the lead on lap 10, in a race featuring three safety cars. With the track drying in the closing stages, drivers had to keep the wet tyre working at its best all the way to the flag.

• Ferrari was quickest in both free practice sessions today, with Carlos Sainz topping FP1 and Charles Leclerc going fastest in FP2. On both occasions, they used the P Zero Red soft tyre.
• Conditions today were dry and warm: just slightly cooler than last weekend in France. However, tomorrow will be very different, with heavy rain expected for both FP3 and qualifying.
• All three compounds were used today quite extensively, with the soft tyre used mostly throughout both sessions. Second-fastest in FP2 was McLaren’s Lando Norris – with his team mate Daniel Ricciardo classified fifth in the session to complete a strong afternoon for the team.
• There’s currently an estimated gap of around 0.9 seconds between the P Zero White hard and the P Zero Yellow medium, and about 0.6 seconds between the medium and soft. This latter gap in particular will evolve according to track temperatures, with cooler conditions favouring the soft.

 “Rain expected tomorrow with cooler temperatures on Sunday, potentially affecting strategies”

“With the expected degree of track evolution today, we’ve already seen some quick times that would perhaps have eventually beaten the qualifying simulation tomorrow. But with heavy rain forecast for Saturday, this will probably remain hypothetical. With cooler temperatures expected on Sunday, this could also be one of the reasons why we saw a lot of running on the soft tyre today, which might become a valid option for the race. The cooler the weather becomes, the more that the additional grip of the soft tyre comes into its own. However, this has to be offset against the mechanical demands on the tyre at this circuit, especially with the cars on full fuel at the start of the race. There was more wear than expected on the hard tyre today, due to some sliding, while the medium and soft performed well for these conditions. As a result of the changing weather, the teams face some complex strategic decisions over the next couple of days.”

Formula 2
DAMS driver Ayumu Iwasa took his first win in France a week ago and took his first pole position today, in the last couple of minutes of Formula 2 qualifying. Using the P Zero Red soft tyre (nominated alongside the P Zero Yellow medium this weekend) Iwasa was fastest by nearly 0.4 seconds, with the rest of the field very closely matched.

Formula 3
Only the P Zero Yellow medium tyre is used this weekend in Formula 3, with the drivers facing high track temperatures during the 30-minute qualifying session, which came down to a final sprint following a red flag interruption. MP Motorsport driver Alexander Smolyar claimed his first pole of the 2022 season, having also taken pole at the Hungaroring two years ago.

• The Hungarian Grand Prix marks the halfway point of the year before the summer break, and Pirelli has chosen the tyres in the middle of the range: C2 as the P Zero White hard, C3 as the P Zero Yellow medium, C4 as the P Zero Red soft.
• The Hungaroring has a reputation for being extremely hot and dry: track temperatures during free practice last year peaked at nearly 60 degrees. But the reality is that it’s actually rained just before the race for the past two seasons in Hungary. Last year that led to a somewhat surreal re-start following a first corner incident, when Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was the only person to get going on intermediates from the grid, while everyone else went into the pit lane for slicks.
• The Hungaroring isn’t a particularly high-energy circuit, with smooth asphalt that’s sometimes bumpy in places, and the demands on tyres being more about traction than braking.

 “The new generation of cars and tyres should be fun on this track”

“In the past, the Hungaroring has been known as a place where it’s difficult to overtake, but the new package of cars and tyres this year helps drivers get much closer to each other, which is why we have seen some great races with plenty of overtaking so far this season. Hopefully that’s going to be the case at the Hungaroring as well; a tight and twisty track where the cars are often grouped together. Hungary is also known for being very hot, but it’s also rained for the last two years there: so the moral of the story is never to jump to conclusions! We’ve seen some surprises at the Hungaroring before, and that could be the case even more this year.” 

For Formula 2, the P Zero Yellow medium and P Zero Red soft tyres have been nominated at the Hungaroring. It’s only the second time the combination has been used this season, after round two at Jeddah. Each driver has five sets of slick tyres (three medium and two soft) to use across the weekend, which consists of a 28-lap sprint race on Saturday afternoon and a feature race lasting 37 laps on Sunday morning, when drivers must use both compounds if it’s dry.  

In Formula 3, the P Zero Yellow medium tyre will be nominated for the second time this season. Its previous appearance came in round two at Imola. Drivers will get three new sets of medium tyres to use across the weekend, with one set of the soft tyre also to be carried over from the previous round at the Red Bull Ring for use in free practice only. A 19-lap sprint race on Saturday morning will be followed by a 24-lap feature race on Sunday.

• GT     
  The Spa 24 Hours, the biggest race on Pirelli’s motorsport schedule, also takes place this weekend in Belgium. Pirelli will bring around 17,000 tyres to the event for all the classes, with a capacity entry of 66 GT3 cars.     
   
• Rallying     
  Pirelli’s home round of the European Rally Championship, the Rally di Roma Capitale, took place last weekend. Pirelli driver Damiano de Tommaso won the event overall in a Skoda Fabia R5, with Pirelli drivers claiming the class victories as well.     
  
   

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed his seventh win of the year after making just one pit stop at the French Grand Prix. He went from the P Zero Yellow medium tyre to the P Zero White hard tyre on lap 16, a couple of laps before a safety car came out when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc went off.
• The safety car heavily influenced the strategy, with the majority of drivers taking advantage of it to make a pit stop. This was mostly medium to hard, as only three drivers started on the hard tyre.
• One of them was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who climbed to fifth place overall from the back, following a grid penalty. He put on the medium under the safety car and then the medium again 11 laps from the end: one of just three finishers to stop twice in the race.
• Conditions were extremely hot, peaking at 57 degrees centigrade of track temperature just after the start of the grand prix.

 HOW THE COMPOUNDS MADE THE DIFFERENCE

• HARD C2: The key compound to this race, which offered both durability and performance. Verstappen completed the longest stint on this compound of 36 laps. It’s worth nothing that none of the teams carried out long runs on this compound over the previous days.
• MEDIUM C3:  The most popular choice to start the race, which showed less degradation than expected and a very good balance in these demanding conditions: particularly in the hands of Sainz, who did a middle stint of 24 laps that put him in podium contention from the back. Sainz also claimed the fastest lap on this compound.
• SOFT C4: Starred in qualifying but not used in the race, as the high degradation made it incompatible with a one-stop strategy.

 “Grip and performance that meant only one stop was needed”

“In these very hot conditions that peaked at 57 degrees of track temperatures, we thought that two pit stops might be favoured. But in the end, as per our initial forecast, only one stop was needed – the fastest way on paper – thanks to the ability of both the hard and the medium compounds to handle these demanding conditions. There was a high degree of degradation, in line with what we would expect in these temperatures, and some blistering: but nothing that compromised the performance and integrity of the tyres here, at another exciting and unpredictable race.”

DAMS driver Ayumu Isawa claimed his first win in Formula 2 from second place on the grid, having got past polesitter Logan Sergeant on the opening lap. He started the race on the P Zero Red soft compound before switching to the P Zero White hard: the strategy adopted by 12 of the drivers. MP Motorsport’s Clement Novalak mastered the alternative strategy, starting on the hard tyre before switching to the soft on lap eight. He made up seven places to finish eighth, using the same strategy as his team mate Felipe Drugovich.

• Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc took pole on the P Zero Red soft tyre, helped by a ‘tow’ from his team mate Carlos Sainz in Q3. All the drivers used the soft tyre from start to finish of qualifying, benefitting from the speed of the red compound to set their quickest times of the weekend.
• Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who set the fastest time of FP3 (using the P Zero Yellow medium tyre) will line up second on the grid.
• Conditions remained dry and hot today: a factor influencing tyre degradation. Qualifying got underway in 33 degrees ambient and 50 degrees of track temperature: similar conditions to those expected for the race tomorrow at 3pm. The wind also changed direction during the qualifying session today, affecting aerodynamic performance.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Leclerc by former Ferrari driver and local hero Jean Alesi. The Avignon native raced for Ferrari from 1991 to 1995, becoming one of the Scuderia’s most loved drivers.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

The hot conditions are likely to point the teams towards a two-stopper, although a one-stopper isn’t out of the question. Starting on the medium tyre gives most options, as this could be followed by two stints on the hard, or a central stint on the hard followed by a final stint on the medium again. It will all come down to degradation rates on race day, which of course vary from car to car.
The other factor deciding the strategy will obviously be the individual compounds that each driver has left in his race allocation.
A one-stopper might not be impossible but it is harder to achieve with more management required. In which case, it would be medium to hard – or alternatively, hard to medium with a long first stint.

 “I think we will see some different strategies in conditions that might be even hotter than today”

“On paper, a one-stopper from medium to hard is actually theoretically fastest, but I still think that most teams will be aiming for a two stopper, most likely using the medium and the hard tyres. It’s interesting to note that of the frontrunners, Leclerc is the only one to have one set of hards and two sets of medium tyres left for the race: his direct rivals mostly have two sets of hards and just one set of mediums. So it’s likely that we will see some different strategies, in conditions that are going to be perhaps hotter than today.”

The 21-lap Formula 2 sprint race got underway with nearly all the drivers on the P Zero White hard tyres: the hardest of the two compounds nominated this weekend. Prema’s Jehan Daruvala led away from reverse grid pole, with tyre management at the beginning of the race, in order to preserve tyre life for the later stages as track temperatures fell, being a crucial element. Daruvala was passed by Hitech’s Liam Lawson in the closing stages, with ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire third. Four drivers started on the P Zero Red soft, with two more drivers switching to it during a safety car period midway through the race.

• With temperatures that peaked at 56 degrees on track today during FP1 (and 53 degrees during FP2) the drivers and tyres faced a tough two hours of free practice, with Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz setting the fastest time of the day in FP2 on the P Zero Red soft. His team mate Charles Leclerc was quickest in FP1.
• With this weekend keeping a traditional format compared to the sprint at the last round in Austria, most teams adopted a classical Friday run plan, concentrating on long runs with the medium and qualifying simulations with the soft.
• ·There’s currently an estimated gap of about 0.6 seconds between the soft and the P Zero Yellow medium tyre, with a gap of around 0.9 seconds between the medium and the P Zero Red hard – although the data from today is affected by track evolution.
• Former Formula 2 champion Nyck de Vries took part in his second FP1 session of the year (following an outing with Williams in Spain). He was classified ninth in FP1, having run on just the soft and the medium tyres.

 “It was interesting to see that a second fast lap was possible after cooling down the soft tyres”

“We had track temperatures that peaked at 56 degrees today – which is still a few degrees off our all-time record from Malaysia in 2016 – but despite these high temperatures, all the compounds performed well. It’s clear that the soft is going to be a compound used just for qualifying, and it was interesting to see that a second fast lap was possible after cooling down the tyres, thanks to a good level of grip and performance recovery. This potentially enables drivers to use fewer soft tyres in qualifying tomorrow, which could help them to save medium and hard sets for the race.”

Carlin driver Logan Sargeant claimed pole by six-thousandths of a second from DAMS driver Ayumu Iwasa using the P Zero Red soft tyre, nominated alongside the P Zero White hard this weekend. Prema’s Jehan Daruvala starts from reverse grid pole for tomorrow sprint race after qualifying 10^th.

• The P Zero White hard is the C2 compound, the P Zero Yellow medium the C3, the P Zero Red soft is the C4: these are the three tyres nominated for the French Grand Prix this weekend for Paul Ricard.
• The France F1 Grand Prix venue is a quite well-balanced circuit, where there is a bit of everything: fast corners and flat-out straights as well as slower and more technical sections. All of that is placing medium-severity energy loads on the tyres, which is why it makes a good test track. At 12 metres wide, there are plenty of options when it comes to lines and overtaking: all providing an interesting challenge for the drivers.
• The Mistral straight – named after the famous French wind, which can also disrupt the aerodynamic balance of the cars – also has the potential to cool the front tyres down. This can affect the turn-in at Signes immediately afterwards: the most demanding corner of the entire circuit, taken flat-out.
• Going off the track is definitely to be avoided: the distinct red, white, and blue tricolour markings contain a high-friction material designed to slow cars down quickly, with high risk to flat spot the tyres.
• Last year’s winning strategy was a two-stopper from Max Verstappen. It was a gamble as he was the only frontrunner to stop twice, with those behind him stopping just once, but it paid off as the Red Bull driver took the lead again a lap before the chequered flag.

 “Paul Ricard is a circuit that includes a bit of everything, interesting challenge for the drivers”

“This year’s French Grand Prix takes place nearly a month later than it did last year, when it rained on Sunday morning, so it’s fair to expect warmer temperatures. This year’s generation of tyres and compounds is different and more resistant to overheating than the 13-inch versions used last year, so we’ll have to see how that affects the strategy. A bit of history: Paul Ricard was actually where our 18-inch tyres for the current era made their debut, at a test with Renault and Sergey Sirotkin back in 2019.” 

Formula 2 will race in France for the first time since 2019. The P Zero White hard and P Zero Red soft tyres have been nominated. This combination has also been seen in four of the previous eight rounds this year, most recently at Silverstone. Each driver has five sets of slick tyres (three hard and two soft) to use across the weekend, which is made up of a sprint race on Saturday afternoon lasting 21 laps and a 30-lap feature race on Sunday morning. 

• Formula 1 testing  
  Four teams (Alpine, McLaren, Red Bull and Williams) stayed on over two days following the Austrian Grand Prix to test Pirelli’s 2023 prototype slick tyres. Approximately 2949 testing kilometres were covered.  
   
• Rallying  
  The latest round of the Pirelli-equipped World Rally Championship took place last weekend in Estonia, featuring fast gravel that are a little bit similar to those on the world famous Rally Finland. Toyota driver Kalle Rovanperä won the event, using Pirelli’s Scorpion gravel tyres.  
  
   

• Charles Leclerc won the Austrian Grand Prix, taking Ferrari to the top step of the podium once more, following his team mate’s victory at Silverstone last week. This was Leclerc’s first win since Australia. As was the case at Silverstone, it was another thrilling race featuring battles, strategies and surprises all weekend – with Leclerc ending the Austrian dominance of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen today, who had previously taken Friday’s pole and then victory in the sprint race on Saturday.
• Leclerc and Verstappen followed an identical strategy: an opening stint on the P Zero Yellow medium, followed by two stints on the P Zero White hard, and then a final stint on the medium, taking advantage of a virtual safety car.
• The variety of the strategies underlined the performance of the tyres brought to Spielberg. With the Mercedes drivers finishing third and fourth on varying strategies (medium-hard-medium for Lewis Hamilton and medium-hard-hard for George Russell) there were three different tyre strategies seen in the top four.
• Most drivers went for two pit stops, with some impressive battles all the way down the field: there was a five-way fight between Haas driver Mick Schumacher, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou, Haas’s Kevin Magnussen, and McLaren’s Lando Norris. All of them swapped positions over the course of nearly an entire lap, with completely clean yet thrilling action.
• Only a week after claiming what had previously been his best F1 finish in eighth, Schumacher went two places better to finish sixth today, using a medium-hard-hard strategy.

HOW THE COMPOUNDS MADE THE DIFFERENCE

• HARD C3: There was higher degradation than expected on this compound: probably as a result of teams not having tried it out extensively during free practice. Four drivers selected the hard at the start, including Alonso, whose reasonably long first stint was key to his progress through the field (finishing in the points after starting on the back row).
• MEDIUM C4: Used by the majority of drivers to start the race, with the Ferrari drivers in particular completing a lengthy opening stint on this compound to establish their advantage at the front. The medium set the fastest lap with Verstappen close to the end of the race.
• SOFT C5: Played a key role in the preceding days but not used in the race today, with the high degradation and traction demands of Spielberg making it not ideally suited for long stints.

  
“We're happy with today’s race. All three compounds showed versatility and performance on different cars and set-ups throughout the three days of this very specific sprint weekend, on a unique circuit like Spielberg. This comes one week after Silverstone: two circuits that couldn’t be more different, but where the combination of cars and tyres both guaranteed a great show. The medium showed excellent performance, while the degradation on the hard was higher than expected today: probably because the teams didn’t have time to try it out thoroughly in race conditions during free practice, due to the condensed nature of a sprint weekend. A lot of the degradation seen today was also down to traffic on this short lap, as when cars are battling they take more energy out of their tyres. I’m happy with all the positive comments about the work done by everyone here and back in our base at Milan but there’s no time to rest: we remain at the Red Bull Ring for our latest 2023 development test, involving four teams that will share duties throughout Tuesday and Wednesday.”

• Prema’s Jehan Daruvala was promoted to victory in the Formula 2 feature race, held in challenging drying conditions, after Trident’s Richard Verschoor was disqualified. Following rain this morning, a dry line with some wet patches emerged by the start of the race, leading to split tyre strategies. A total of 12 drivers started on the slicks, including Verschoor and Daruvala (who started from P11 on the grid) with the rest on wets – including polesitter Juri Vips (Hitech).
• Hitech driver Isack Hadjar claimed Formula 3 feature race victory from pole in a wet race, with all the drivers using the Cinturato Blue full wet tyres. Managing a rolling start and then a safety car, Hadjar negotiated the demanding conditions perfectly as a dry line began to emerge but the full wets proved adaptable to a wide range of wet conditions.

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen converted pole position into sprint race victory at the Red Bull Ring over 23 laps (the race distance was reduced by one lap after an extra formation lap was added). The top four finished in grid order, with Verstappen taking his second consecutive sprint win this year.
• He used the P Zero Yellow medium tyre from start to finish, with all the teams apart from Aston Martin and Williams (which used the P Zero Red soft) making the same choice. Conditions remained dry and quite cool, with 26 degrees ambient and 34 degrees of track temperature at the end of the race.
• The performance gaps between the compounds here is estimated at around 0.3 seconds between P Zero White hard and medium (although there has been very little running on the hard so far) and 0.4 seconds between medium and soft.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

According to our theoretical calculation based on the average data from all the teams, the quickest strategy on paper for the 71-lap Austrian Grand Prix tomorrow is going to be a one-stopper from medium to hard.
For cars starting out of position, starting on the hard isn’t out of the question either, leaving a choice between the soft and the medium for the final stint.
A two-stopper is slower under normal circumstances, but the best way to do it would be using all three compounds: medium, hard, then soft. There’s a reasonably high safety car probability here, on a tight and unforgiving track, so that could influence a two-stopper.
Tomorrow there’s a bit of rain forecast for the morning, which shouldn’t affect the race, but will influence the track’s condition. Track temperatures are expected to be broadly similar to today, so the data collected from the sprint today will be very relevant.

 
“The race looks likely to be a medium to hard one-stopper”

“Today the teams were able to get some useful long run data on the medium during the sprint: good information for the race tomorrow, which looks likely to be a medium to hard one-stopper, as also confirmed by the performance of the tyres today. Both compounds performed well, with the medium being the more conservative choice that made it the most popular option for the sprint this afternoon. The soft was chosen by four drivers starting from further down the grid, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll used it well to make up four places.” 

• Hitech’s Marcus Armstrong led from light to flag in the 28-lap Formula 2 sprint race, having started from reverse grid pole. All the drivers used the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tyres from start to finish, which stood up well to the demands of the tightly-fought race. ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire was second, challenged hard by Jack Doohan (Virtuosi Racing).
• All the drivers used the P Zero Red soft tyre for the 21-lap sprint race, with Prema’s Jak Crawford sealing his first Formula 3 win. MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet led from pole but was then passed by ART Grand Prix’s Juan Manuel Correa, who dropped out with technical problems. Crawford took the lead with seven laps to go, managing the safety car re-start perfectly. Fourth place and fastest lap for Arthur Leclerc (Prema) moved him to within one point of the series lead.