Also on the podium, second placed Lando Norris for McLaren and Sergio Perez, third in the other Red Bull. This was the Englishman’s 15^th podium and the Mexican’s 39^th. Fernando Alonso took the chequered flag in seventh place and set the race fastest lap for the 25^th time in his career, his second with Aston Martin after the one in Zandvoort last year.

THE DAY ON TRACK

Predictably, the vast majority of drivers opted to start on the Medium, with four – Hamilton, Stroll, Sargeant and Tsunoda – going for the Soft and Magnussen choosing the Hard.

The way the race panned out and the various strategy choices were influenced by three Safety Car periods, one virtual and two real, for a total of around 17 minutes, just before half-distance. This bunched up the pack and mixed things up in terms of pit stops and tyre usage to the extent that six drivers - Hamilton, Stroll, Alonso, Sargeant, Tsunoda and Zhou – ended up using all three compounds. Further confirmation of this was the fact that the strategies of the drivers who made up the top ten were very different to one another in terms of the order in which the compounds were used, as well as in the number of pit stops: Norris, Sainz and Leclerc stopped only once, while Verstappen, Perez, Russell, Hamilton, Piastri and Hulkenberg stopped twice and Alonso three times.

The longest stint of all was driven by Sainz (39 laps on the Hard) with Magnussen going furthest (29 laps) on the Medium and Alonso doing 20 on the Soft.

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR   
 

“I take my hat off to yet another show of strength from Max Verstappen, who won twice on this first Sprint weekend of the season. Nevertheless, it was a very interesting race because behind the three time world champion, there was a very close race with surprises, overtaking and excitement. In fact, there was also great excitement among the Chinese fans who had their eyes glued on local hero Guanyu Zhou all weekend long, and he showed his emotion acknowledging their support after the race.

“From a purely technical point of view, today’s race confirmed that all three compounds were suitable for use. Obviously, the long Safety Car periods affected the way the race played out, allowing those considering a one-stop to make it work. However, given the level of degradation evident, it would have really been borderline to make the one stop work without the Safety Car, as there would have been too high a price to pay in terms of performance compared to those who would have been on quicker, and possibly newer, tyres in the final part of the race. In fact, this was demonstrated by Alonso, who came in for new Mediums on lap 43 when in seventh place, and was then able to make up all five places lost at the pit stop over the course of his final stint. Finally, it’s worth noting that none of the three compounds suffered from graining, further proof that they worked well on this unusual track in very particular conditions.”

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES

Next up, it’s Formula 1’s first visit to North America this season, with a race on a track around Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, from 3 to 5 May. For the second consecutive round, the Sprint format will be in operation, meaning just one free practice session and Sprint Qualifying on Friday, with the Sprint Race and Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, followed by the usual race on Sunday. The compounds chosen for the sixth round of the season are the C2, C3 and C4, the same as here in Shanghai.

Verstappen’s best lap of 1’33”660, set on his last Q3 run, was less than two tenths slower than Pirelli’s simulation based on data obtained from the teams. His team-mate Sergio Perez (1’33”982) joins him on the front row, while the second row features the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso (1’34”148) and the McLaren of Lando Norris (1’34”165).

After starting the Sprint Race from fourth on the grid, Max took just nine laps to work his way to the front, passing Alonso and then Hamilton before taking off for his eighth win from 13 Sprint starts. On the virtual podium for the “short” race, he was joined by Hamilton and Perez following some exciting duels over the final few laps, involving Alonso, Perez and the Ferrari pair of Sainz and Leclerc. The two Spaniards came off worst with Carlos finishing fourth, having sustained front wing damage in a collision with his fellow countryman, who also had to pit because of a puncture picked up when they touched.

THE DAY ON TRACK 
 

Two colours clearly dominated today’s two track sessions at the Shanghai International Circuit. In the Sprint Race, the yellow medium compound tyre was the outright favourite, used by 19 of the 20 drivers, the only exception being George Russell, whose Mercedes team opted to make the most of the additional grip provided by the red Soft in the opening laps.

Naturally, the C4 was the star of qualifying, with a single splash of yellow on the list of tyres used, courtesy of Sainz who ran the Medium for his first Q1 run.

Verstappen was presented with the Pirelli Pole Position Award by Wu Chun, now a film actor and prior to that a singer with boyband Mandopop Fahrenheit. He has starred in several Taiwanese films and TV programmes and has one of the biggest followings on Chinese social network, Weibo.

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT
 

“The second day of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend was really busy with the new format providing plenty of interest for the spectators, who once again today packed out the grandstands. The Sprint Race clearly demonstrated the good performance level of the Medium tyre and thanks to Russell, we saw that the Soft cannot be discounted as a possible compound to use in the race. It could indeed be an ideal solution for the first stint for those wishing to pit early to exploit the undercut, which is very effective here, or maybe in the closing stages of the race to try and make up some places if a driver finds himself behind others on older and therefore less effective tyres.

“Considering the high level of degradation seen so far in yesterday’s free practice and today’s Sprint, a two-stop is clearly the quickest strategy. A mix of C3 and C2 is the best on paper but, as mentioned previously, the C4 could also come into play. In terms of wear, the tyre requiring the most care is the front left, but the rears could also be given a hard time.”

THE DAY ON TRACK   

The majority of drivers opted to start on the Medium tyre for the first stint, with only Sainz, Bottas and Stroll, all starting from a long way back, going with the Hard. At his first pit stop, Ferrari’s Spanish driver took on another set of the C3, which meant he would be making two stops, although the second one was delayed all the way until lap 57. In the end, only three drivers, Bottas, Ocon and Tsunoda, got to the chequered flag having made just a single stop. The Finn ran two very equal length stints, while the Japanese drivers stopped on lap 22, before putting in no fewer than 36 laps on a set of Hards and the Frenchman brought his first stop forward to lap 15, which meant he went for 43 laps on the C3. The rest of the field all stopped twice.

Yet another award for Max Verstappen in what has been an amazing season for him. The Dutch driver has secured the 2023 Pirelli Pole Position Award of the Year for having been quickest in qualifying at 12 races, more than any other driver. Today, he was presented with the award, a personalised Pirelli P Zero soft tyre, by Kalle Rovanperä, winner of the World Rally Championship drivers’ title for the past two years.

MARIO ISOLA - DIRECTOR PIRELLI MOTORSPORT   

“The race was an accurate reflection of the season as a whole, with Max Verstappen totally dominant, while behind him a close battle raged for every place, with the hierarchy changing, sometimes significantly, from race to race.

As was generally forecast, the C3 compound was far and away the most popular, while the C5 was only used by Sainz for one lap, which he didn’t even complete, at the very end of the race. The difference between the one-stop and two-stop strategies was very small in our pre-race simulations, but in the end, almost everyone opted for the two-stop, mainly for tactical reasons given that degradation was relatively low. In fact, on a track where the undercut is always very effective, it’s clear that when a driver started the run of pit stops, any other drivers battling with them had to do the same to avoid being passed by anyone exploiting new tyres and a clear track ahead. This was seen not only amongst the leaders, but also in those further back, while a few drivers tried to go for something different, some going for a one-stop (Ocon, Tsunoda and Bottas), some, like Sainz, hoping for a Safety Car, others going for a longer second stint, trying to make the most of the difference in grip levels between new and used tyres in the closing stages, in particular Perez and Stroll. Verstappen, from his position of superiority, reacted to the moves of his closest rivals in the first stint and then waited for them to pit again, before making his second stop in perfect safety.

Graining was a factor especially for those who spent a lot of time in traffic, but was far less significant for drivers who were able to run in clean air and this applied to both the Medium and Hard.”

Formula 2

Theo Pourchaire is the 2023 FIA Formula 2 champion. The ART Grand Prix driver had to wait until he finished fifth in today’s Feature Race to secured the title with 203 points. The race winner was Jack Doohan (Invicta Virtuosi Racing) who took the chequered flag ahead of Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix). In third place was Prema Racing’s Frederik Vesti, the Danish driver finishing the season in second place on 192 points, having won yesterday’s Sprint Race. Second and third on Saturday were Enzo Fittipaldi (Rodin Carlin) and Richard Verschoor (Van Amersfoort Racing). The teams’ title went to ART Grand Prix (353 points) ahead of Prema Racing (322).

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR F1 TYRES  

All the Formula 1 teams are staying on in Abu Dhabi for a day’s testing on Tuesday. Each team can use two cars, one for their race drivers, the other for a rookie. With no new compounds to evaluate, track time will be used to work on optimising tyre management for next season with the help of the additional sensors that they can fit. The data acquired will then be shared with Pirelli. The cars used by the race drivers will have ten sets of tyres available: one C1, one C2, two C5, three C4 and three C3. The young drivers can use a maximum of eight sets: two C4, two C5 and four sets of C4.

Starting alongside Verstappen will be Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) second in 1’23”584, while behind them on the grid will be Oscar Piastri for McLaren (1’23”782) and the Mercedes of George Russell (1’23”788).

THE DAY ON TRACK

The third free practice session was very busy as the teams were trying, at least partly, to make up for the time lost yesterday in FP2. Even though temperatures were considerably higher than can be expected in tomorrow’s race, several drivers did long runs with a heavy fuel load, once again mainly on the two softest compounds in order to save the C3 for the race.

Qualifying times were very close, especially in the first two sessions: in Q1 all the drivers were within 999 thousandths and in Q2 within seven tenths. In this sort of situation, the smallest details can make the difference, such as how clean a lap the driver delivers, or how the preparation lap goes, not to mention tyre management which is even more important than ever on an unusual track such as Yas Marina where the third, particularly twisty sector plays a key role.

The Pole Position Award was presented by retired footballer Sergio Agüero. The Argentinian is regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation, his career linked to two clubs: Atletico Madrid with whom he won the UEFA Europa League, and the European Super Cup in 2010 and with Manchester City, with whom he won five Premier League titles and one FA Cup. With his national side, Aguero won the 2021 Copa America.

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT

“The season is ending on a high note with yet another spectacular qualifying. All three parts were very closely contested, as can be seen from the time gaps, where the slightest detail could prove vital. At Yas Marina it’s the third sector which usually makes the difference on a flying lap and to tackle it in the best way possible, one not only has to do a very good job on the preparation lap, but also manage the tyres very carefully through the various key points of the flying lap so as to arrive at the final sector with the tyres in the best possible condition. All this adds further uncertainty to a situation where already the pecking order is very close, and that was very evident this evening.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, the decision taken by almost all the teams to save two sets of Hard tyres, demonstrates that the C3 is the favoured compound. On paper, a one-stop is quickest, with the Medium for the first stint before switching to the aforementioned Hard. A two-stop race, with the sequence C4/C3/C3, is not that far off in terms of overall race time and could become a valid option especially if there is a neutralisation in the second part of the race. It’s hard to see the C5 coming into play, unless someone wants to gamble in the final stages on exploiting the Soft’s grip advantage over a used Hard, with a lighter car.”

This was Verstappen’s 18^th win out of the 21 races so far this season and it sees him join Sebastian Vettel in third place on the all-time winners list on 53. Ahead of them are only Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103).

THE DAY ON TRACK   
 

For the start, the majority of drivers (15) went with the Medium, while Stroll and Tsunoda preferred the Soft, with Hamilton, Piastri and Zhou opting for the Hard. The first Safety Car saw several drivers take the opportunity to switch immediately to the C3 to try and move up the order, thus mixing things up with those who chose to stay out on track. The second Safety Car, following the collision between Russell and Verstappen which left debris strewn on the track, then saw the advantage swing in favour of those who had pitted very early on and had not yet made a second stop, as it minimised time lost in pit lane.

As for tonight’s longest stints, Sargeant did 35 laps on a set of Hards and Bottas did 26 on the Medium tyre and also noteworthy, considering the fuel load at that point, was Leclerc’s 21 laps on the set of C4 he used from the start.

MARIO ISOLA - DIRECTOR PIRELLI MOTORSPORT   
 

“That was 90 action-packed and spectacular minutes of racing which must have pleased all the spectators here in Las Vegas tonight and those watching on television or on-line. Overtaking, collisions, safety cars, mistakes and great feats of driving: the best of what this sport has to offer was all there condensed into 50 laps. It was the best possible advert for Formula 1 in the United States, a perfect combination of the racing side and the show, as exemplified in the prize giving ceremony.

Coming onto the technical summary of the evening, we saw that our predictions prior to the race in terms of strategy were proved right: there wasn’t much difference between a one-stop and a two-stop. The Hard proved to be the most effective race tyre, even if it suffered a bit from graining. The Medium, chosen for the start by three quarters of the field, behaved reasonably well, although it needed to be treated a bit more carefully, especially in the early stages. In fact, even those fighting hard for the win, like Leclerc, were able to extend the first stint almost to half distance. The Soft, used only by Stroll and Tsunoda for the start, delivered a nice advantage off the line, but was clearly less competitive over a long distance. Again today, we saw how track conditions had reset due to it being reopened to normal traffic overnight, which made cleaning up the graining on the tyre surface more difficult.”

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR F1 TYRES  
 

Next week, the final round of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship takes place in Abu Dhabi. The compounds chosen for this event are the C3 as P Zero White hard, the C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and the C5 as P Zero Red soft. On the Tuesday after the race, the Yas Marina circuit hosts a day of testing in which all teams are taking part.

This was Leclerc’s 23^rd pole position, his fifth this year. For Ferrari it’s number 249, its seventh this season.

THE DAY ON TRACK

It was clear in the third free practice session that the track being reopened to road traffic overnight had significantly reset the condition of the track surface. Therefore, throughout the session, lap times came down considerably as the track evolved and this continued into qualifying to the extent that by the end, the fastest time was not that far off the one predicted by earlier simulations.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Leclerc by the American actor, Patrick Dempsey, recently voted by “People” magazine as the sexiest man of 2023. While he is best known for his role in the popular TV series “Grey’s Anatomy”, Dempsey is also involved in motor racing as a driver who has taken part in many GT races, including finishing second in 2015 in the GTE category at the Le Mans 24 Hours and as a team owner. Confirming his close ties to racing, he has also played the role of racing driver Piero Taruffi in the film “Ferrari” directed by Michael Mann. 

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT          
 

“This was definitely a spectacular evening, with some surprises as well as some predictable results. From a purely technical point of view, we saw a qualifying session in which teams adopted various different approaches. There were some who did a preparation lap after their out-lap and others who pushed hard right away, which allowed for a long run in Q1, doing one quick lap, followed by one or two cool down laps, while others tried to make the best use of the greater grip offered by new rubber. It’s hard to say which method proved most effective because track evolution was very significant, more important than any other factor. This was entirely predictable, partly because it was clear that the track was almost back to the condition it was in at the start of yesterday, mainly down to the fact it had been reopened to normal traffic.

Looking ahead to tomorrow night’s race, it’s clear that the Hard and Medium are the compounds best suited to tackle the scheduled 50 laps. There are various options on the table, both in terms of which sets the teams will choose to give back at the end of the day, and based on the impact of graining, which was significant again today, because of the aforementioned comments on the state of the track. If tomorrow, this phenomenon becomes less of a factor as the track rubbers in, then the one-stop should be quickest, otherwise a two-stop could prove to be competitive. Then, the choice of which compound to use the most will also depend on choices made today and, maybe, it could also open a window for the Soft for the final part of the race.”

This was Max’s 52^nd career win and his 17^th of the season, thus setting a new record, with what is at the moment, an 85% success rate, beating the previous 75% record set by Alberto Ascari in 1952.

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR   
 

“It was an action packed race, even before the start! In the end, the dominant force this season, Max Verstappen, took the win, but there was plenty of excitement, and how! Norris played his part, showing great pace so that he finished not that far behind the Red Bull driver and then Alonso and Perez had the crowd going wild with their duel in the closing stages, while there were also plenty of other interesting battles over the course of the race. All this on a track that is very hard on tyres, with significant degradation, so that the drivers had to work hard to manage them, but it certainly didn’t stop them overtaking their rivals even towards the end of the stints.

Strategy and tyre usage confirmed our predictions going into the race. The two-stop was the preferred choice of the vast majority of drivers, while the Soft was the tyre that saw the most use. In very similar weather to what we had in yesterday’s Sprint, the C4, although requiring careful management, proved that, overall it performed better than the C3, especially because it ensured better grip and slid less. Almost everyone used the Medium in the middle stint, with lap numbers absolutely similar to those run on the Softs.”

THE DAY ON TRACK

For the start, 19 drivers had chosen the Soft with seven of them going for a new set of C4. Sargeant was the only driver to start on the Medium. For the restart, after the first lap accident, which involved Albon, Magnussen, Piastri, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg, two drivers decided to change their approach to the race: Piastri went from Soft to Medium while Sargeant went in the opposite direction.

Of the 17 drivers who lined up for the second start, only Ocon made three stops, using three sets of C4 and one of C3. Everyone else went for the two-stop, with 15 drivers following the sequence C4-C3-C4, while Piastri used two sets of Soft after his first stint on the Medium.

Norris did the longest stint on the Medium (32 laps), and Piastri extended a Soft stint the most, going for 28 laps.

One interesting fact: the red flag on lap 3 actually allowed two drivers – Sargeant and Hulkenberg – to complete the entire race using only the Soft compound.

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES

After a break of 41 years, Formula 1 returns to Las Vegas and a brand new track. From 16 to 18 November the cars will tackle the 6.201 kilometre street circuit that passes some of the most iconic landmarks on the famous Strip. For the Las Vegas Grand Prix the compound selection is as follows: C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and the C5 as P Zero Red soft.

THE DAY ON TRACK 
 

The Medium compound was the most popular choice for the Sprint, used by the entire field bar one driver, Carlos Sainz, who took a gamble on the Soft. Of the other 19, only Hulkenberg and Albon opted to use a new set. The C3 showed signs of degradation that were in line with expectations, while Sainz’s use of the Softs has provided useful data on the behaviour of the C4 over a long run. The Spaniard made the most of the initial grip to move up a couple of places and from then on, he had to manage them very carefully to avoid a big drop in pace in the closing stages.

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT

“It was an action-packed Saturday, as is always the case with the Sprint format. Unlike what we saw in Qatar a fortnight ago, the compound choice for the short race was almost unanimous, with just Sainz going it alone, eschewing the Medium in favour of the Soft. The Spaniard went on to finish in the same position from which he had started but apart from that, his race allowed us and his Ferrari team to acquire important information about the behaviour of the C4 over a long run, which had not been possible in yesterday’s free practice.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, we can say that a two stop will be the favourite strategy, running a combination of Medium and Hard, depending on how many sets of the two compounds each driver has available. Looking at the starting grid, we can definitely expect a good battle at the front and, who knows, maybe a few surprises!”

Formula 1 returns to Las Vegas for the first time in 41 years, on an all-new 6.201 kilometre-track that showcases some of the most iconic spots on the iconic Strip: including the Bellagio, Venetian and Caesar’s Palace hotels. Caesar’s Palace was the site of the only two grands prix held in Las Vegas so far: the last race of both the 1981 and 1982 seasons.

The third Grand Prix to be held this year in the USA is a real unknown. The teams have no real reference and will have to rely on simulations to define a base set-up, which will be developed during the weekend. Another unknown factor will be the temperatures, as all sessions will take place after sunset. The first two free practice sessions are scheduled for Thursday evening (20:30) and the middle of the night between Thursday and Friday (00:00-01:00). FP3 and qualifying will take place at the same times on Friday, with the race starting at 22:00 on Saturday night.

Then it's back to the Middle East for the now classic season-ender. The Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi has hosted a grand prix since 2009 and has been the final race on the calendar 12 times. The asphalt is not very abrasive and the layout is not particularly demanding on the tyres, which are subjected to fairly balanced longitudinal and lateral forces between front and rear. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be followed by a day of testing for all the teams on Tuesday after the race.

MARIO ISOLA - DIRECTOR PIRELLI MOTORSPORT   
 

“As always, since Formula 1 returned to Mexico, the atmosphere at this race was amazing, despite the premature retirement of crowd favourite Sergio Perez. On the tyre front, we saw how track evolution and higher temperatures led to the C4 emerging as the most effective compound overall. That was particularly evident after the restart when those who went for the aggressive choice of fitting the Medium, were able to make the most of it when they could attack with it, without the lap times dropping off towards the end, as we saw with Hamilton and Norris for example. Verstappen’s superiority meant he could choose what he wanted to do in terms of stops and the Safety Car meant he made his second pit stop without losing position, given that his rivals were just making their scheduled stops. As is often the case with a driver on top form, luck seems to want to help him out still further.”

THE DAY ON TRACK   
 

The race was run in the highest temperatures seen all weekend, the track being at 52 °C at the start, dropping to 45 °C at the end. As expected, almost all the drivers chose to start on the Medium tyre, the exceptions being Ocon (Hard), Albon (Hard) and Norris (Soft). Once the race had settled down after the battles shortly after the start, the first part of the race saw the drivers play close attention to managing their tyres and cars. This applied to those who had definitely opted for a one-stop race as well as those keeping their options open to go for a two-stop, especially among the leaders. The Safety Car and the red flag that followed because of Magnussen’s crash, made it more complicated to determine which would be the quickest strategy, also because the race was now practically divided into two parts. The track condition improved significantly compared to the start of the weekend and this meant that the graining effect diminished progressively.

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR F1 TYRES  
 

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix takes place from 3 to 5 November at the famous Interlagos circuit. There the teams will have the choice of the following compounds: the C2 as P Zero White hard, the C3 as P Zero Yellow medium and the C4 as P Zero Red soft. The Brazilian weekend is also the final one of the season run to the Sprint format with qualifying for the race on Friday afternoon and Saturday given over entirely to the Shootout and Sprint.

THE DAY ON TRACK 
 

As usual, the third free practice session was given over mainly to preparation for qualifying. Several drivers assessed tyre behaviour on a medium fuel load to simulate conditions that could prevail tomorrow afternoon in a hypothetical final race stint.

In qualifying, three teams – Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren – who had used two sets of Softs in FP3, did their first run in Q1 on the Medium with the aim of still having two new sets of the same compound in case they got to Q3. Ferrari managed this with both its drivers, while this choice cost Norris dear, as he failed to make the cut out of Q1, also partly because of a yellow flag situation on his second run.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by content creator Jimmy Álvarez. With his ironic product reviews, first seen on YouTube and then on TikTok, he has won over the Mexican public, acquiring millions of followers.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR         
 

“Qualifying produced quite a few surprises, which bodes well for a spectacular race tomorrow afternoon. As has often been the case this year, qualifying was very closely contested, with the top three all within less than a tenth of one another and the top ten within less than a second. Compared to last year’s race here, the fastest time of all was a bit more than six tenths (0.609 to be precise) quicker, in line with the performance between the Soft used in 2022, the C4 and the one used today, the C5, as well as matching our previous simulations. Today, over the course of the two sessions, we saw that the track evolution stabilised.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow afternoon, we expect the one-stop will still be the favourite strategy, with two alternatives: starting on the C4 before switching to the C3 after around one third distance, or opting to start on the C3 and lengthening the first stint to two thirds of the 71 lap race. The two-stop is a possibility, using a mix of C3 and C4, but it’s not as quick as one pit stop strategy.”

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR   
 

“On one of the most probing tracks of the season, we witnessed a very closely contested race, with exciting duels both on track and between the strategists. On the topic of strategy, the way the race played out confirmed that a two-stop was the quickest option, especially because the one-stop alternative would require very careful tyre management thus making it difficult for a driver to push hard for many laps, while those on two stops were able to do so. That was the case with Leclerc who, although he did not see a drop in performance towards the end due to degradation, found his pace was not strong enough to defend from several drivers who chose to pit twice.

Looking at tyre performance in general, the Medium proved to be the most suitable compound, because it offered more grip than the Hard, but its degradation did not result in much slower lap times. The Soft was hardly used – only by AlphaTauri in the closing stages – and looking at Tsunoda’s performance it showed it was a great tyre over a single flying lap, but not really an option over a long distance on this Austin track with today’s temperatures. Finally, it’s worth noting that even in the race there was no graining.”

THE DAY ON TRACK

The vast majority of drivers preferred to start on the Medium tyres, the only exceptions being Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg, who started on Hard from pit lane alongside their respective team-mates Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen. As expected, the quickest strategy was a two stop, running Medium and Hard. Two drivers tried to run the whole race making just a single pit stop: Charles Leclerc, who extended his first stint to lap 23 before running the remaining 33 laps on a set of Hards, and Daniel Ricciardo who, on lap 47, probably aborted his attempt to get to the chequered flag on the Hards, switching to Softs for the final laps. His AlphaTauri team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda did the same, making a third stop on the penultimate lap, attempting and succeeding in taking the additional point on offer for setting the fastest race lap as he rounded off the top ten. 

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES

Next stop is Mexico City: the circuit named after the Rodriguez brothers will host the 20th race of this year’s Formula 1 World Championship from 27 to 29 October. The compounds available there are the C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. This trio is therefore one step softer than those used last year.

F1 ACADEMY

Jessica Edgar made the most of the pole position she secured on Friday in the third and final race in Austin. The English girl, driving for Rodin Carlin, fended off attacks from Marta Garcia to keep the lead all the way to the flag. The Prema Racing driver eventually finished third as she was also passed by her fellow Spaniard Nerea Marti (Campos Racing.) Garcia still had something to celebrate as her Prema Racing team clinched the teams’ title. The inaugural season of the Pirelli-shod all-women’s series is now over, while the Jeddah circuit will host the opening round of the 2024 championship from 7 to 9 March as part of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.

THE DAY ON TRACK 
 

The Medium compound was the most popular choice for the Sprint, used by the entire field bar one driver, Carlos Sainz, who took a gamble on the Soft. Of the other 19, only Hulkenberg and Albon opted to use a new set. The C3 showed signs of degradation that were in line with expectations, while Sainz’s use of the Softs has provided useful data on the behaviour of the C4 over a long run. The Spaniard made the most of the initial grip to move up a couple of places and from then on, he had to manage them very carefully to avoid a big drop in pace in the closing stages.

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT

“It was an action-packed Saturday, as is always the case with the Sprint format. Unlike what we saw in Qatar a fortnight ago, the compound choice for the short race was almost unanimous, with just Sainz going it alone, eschewing the Medium in favour of the Soft. The Spaniard went on to finish in the same position from which he had started but apart from that, his race allowed us and his Ferrari team to acquire important information about the behaviour of the C4 over a long run, which had not been possible in yesterday’s free practice.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, we can say that a two stop will be the favourite strategy, running a combination of Medium and Hard, depending on how many sets of the two compounds each driver has available. Looking at the starting grid, we can definitely expect a good battle at the front and, who knows, maybe a few surprises!”

F1 ACADEMY  
 

Marta Garcia is the first ever champion of the all-women’s F1 Academy series. Driving for the Italian Prema Racing team, she took the title with a win in the first of the three races on the schedule. The Austin round is the last of the series, which is run using Pirelli tyres.

The Spaniard started from pole and kept the lead from start to finish of the 12 lap race, picking up enough points to put the title out of reach of her pursuers. Joining her on the podium for Race 1 were Abbi Pulling (Rodin Carlin) and Lena Buhler (ART Grand Prix), with the prizes given out by George Russell.

Today’s second race did not go so well for Garcia, as she failed to make it to the chequered flag, as she had to retire with a broken front wing, following a collision with another car. The win went to Hamda Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport), followed across the line by Lena Buhler and Jessica Edgar (Rodin Carlin).

For both prizegiving ceremonies, the first three in each race wore the iconic Pirelli podium cap, specially personalised for the final round with the violet colours of the F1 Academy.

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR   
 

“This was a very demanding weekend on many fronts, which ended with a race that, given the circumstances, was interesting and closely contested. The committed and transparent collaboration between all of Formula 1’s stakeholders – the FIA, Formula 1, the teams and drivers – meant that there was a rapid and efficient reaction to solving a safety issue that involved us at first hand. Today, the sport was able to put on an interesting show for the spectators with a lot of overtaking and duels, despite the limitations imposed by the FIA. In the coming weeks, we will continue to analyse the tyres used this weekend to acquire as much information as possible and share that with the FIA.

From what we saw this evening, graining was a very significant factor with all the compounds. It’s severity gradually decreased as the track rubbered-in. Today the wind was much weaker than in the past days which reduced the amount of sand and dust blown onto the track surface, even if it did not disappear completely. Thermal degradation also had an effect on tyre performance, with track temperatures never dropping below 36 °C.”

THE DAY ON TRACK

At the start of the day, the FIA decided to impose a maximum limit of 18 on the number of laps that could be completed by any set of tyres in the race. Earlier, Pirelli had presented the FIA with the findings of the analysis of the tyre sets returned by the teams yesterday, which showed there was not a significant enough reduction in the possibility of micro tears in the sidewall, between the topping compound and the carcass cords because of the impact generated from repeatedly driving over the kerbs at some corners, as a result of measures introduced before the Sprint Shootout. This meant that three pit stops would be required for a driver to complete the 57 laps race distance.

For the start, the majority of drivers went with the Medium. The exceptions were Hamilton, Bottas, Magnussen and Lawson, who preferred to start on the Soft, while Perez, starting from pit-lane, fitted a set of Hard. As expected, the C3 was only chosen by those who were looking to make up places at the start or in the closing stages of the race when the fuel load would be lower.

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR FORMULA 1 TYRES

Formula 1 returns to the Americas as from 20 October with the United States Grand Prix being held in Austin on 22 October. The next weekend, (27-29 October) the season moves on to Mexico City and finally, the week after that it’s the Sao Paulo Grand Prix (3-5 November). The Texas event again runs to the Sprint format and the teams will be supplied with the C2 compound as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow medium and C4 as P Zero Red soft.

THE DAY ON TRACK

It was an unusual Saturday, as the FIA introduced an extra ten minute free practice session prior to the Shootout, to allow the drivers to familiarise themselves with the new track layout, following modifications made to turns 12 and 13. As per the regulations, for the Sprint Shootout, the drivers had to use just one set of Medium tyres for each of the first two sessions and then one set of Softs in Q3 for the remaining 10 drivers: eight of them opted for a new set of C3, while Ocon and Alonso went with one they had used yesterday.

For the 19 lap Sprint Race, the choice of tyre was well balanced, with 12 drivers going for the Medium and eight opting for the Soft. There were three Safety Car periods caused by accidents and cars getting stuck off track in the gravel run-off areas. During one of these periods, three drivers, Zhou, Stroll and Magnussen, came in for a pit stop: the Chinese driver and the Dane went from Medium to Soft, while the Canadian took on another set of C3s.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR   

“First and foremost, we wish to congratulate Max Verstappen on his third world title, in a season in which he has been well and truly dominant.

It was a particularly busy day for Pirelli. As previously mentioned, during our usual analysis last night after free practice, we discovered that some tyres that had done 20 or more laps were showing signs of micro lacerations in the sidewall, between the topping compound and the carcass cords, most likely caused by the impact generated by repeatedly going over the kerbs at some corners, especially turns 12 and 13. We immediately informed the FIA, who proceeded to take action, by revising the track limits at these corners and instigating an additional free practice session prior to the Sprint Shootout, to allow the drivers to check out the new lines through this part of the track. Now, as is the case at every race weekend, we are analysing the sets returned to us at the end of the day. Once this procedure is completed, we will pass on the results of our findings to the FIA and, if necessary, further measures will be put in place for tomorrow night’s Grand Prix.

In terms of how the tyres behaved today on track, it was clear to see that the Medium was best suited for a long stint, as in the Sprint. The Soft provided extra performance at the start and at the three restarts, but over a distance it suffered from graining and heavy thermal degradation. In fact, on a track which was particularly slippery because of the sand blown across it by the wind, this was a predictable phenomenon.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, it is not worth speculating about strategies, given that we must wait for the outcome of our on-going analysis and then see if this has any regulatory effect on how the race will be run.”

A new version of the C4 will also be tried out at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez during free practice, with a view to 2024. This test will be run in exactly the same way as last Friday in Suzuka, where a new version of the C2 was trialled. Teams will receive two extra sets per driver of the experimental compound, which they can use whenever they like during the two hours of free practice scheduled for Friday.

The other two grands prix, in Austin and Sao Paulo, will be Sprint weekends, with just one hour of free practice before qualifying on Friday. Saturday will then feature the Sprint Shootout to determine the grid positions for the Sprint itself in the afternoon. On Sunday, the grand prix takes place as usual. This will be the first time that the Circuit of the Americas holds a sprint weekend, whereas Interlagos has already hosted sprint races in both 2021 and 2022.

Joining Max on the podium were the two McLaren drivers, with Australia’s Oscar Piastri securing his first Formula 1 top three finish. This was Norris’ tenth trophy winning result, his podium appearances split equally between second and third places.

MARIO ISOLA - DIRECTOR PIRELLI MOTORSPORT   
 

“First and foremost, I want to congratulate Red Bull for their achievement in taking their sixth Constructors’ title as well as ensuring that only Max or Sergio can now take the Drivers’ crown. The team led by Christian Horner is making its mark on the current Formula 1 era, beating all the records and this amazing result is well deserved.

The Suzuka track is one of the toughest on tyres and this year we saw higher temperatures than usual which increased the demands on them. This afternoon, everything went as we had expected and all three available compounds were used, thus creating a situation where we saw several different strategies between the teams and drivers. After studying the data from free practice, we reckoned that a two-stop strategy was the quickest and that was confirmed. Those who tried something different, Russell for example, had to give best in the closing stages to their two-stopping rivals. Compared to Friday, we saw that the Medium was the most used, even if the difference in terms of degradation when compared to the Soft, also today, was not that big. Clearly the C2 offered greater flexibility in terms of management and that’s why the majority of drivers opted to start with it.”

THE DAY ON TRACK   
 

For the start, 13 drivers went with the Medium for the first stint, seven for the Soft. Apart from those who had to rapidly change their plans because of collisions in the opening moments of the race, it was clear to see that the great majority of drivers had opted for a two-stop strategy, making the most efficient use of the sets of tyres available. In fact, those who had two new Hard sets used them both, with the exception of Russell who - having done a good job of managing his Medium set from the start - tried to mix things up by going for a one-stop strategy, using the Hard for no fewer than 29 laps. The Mercedes driver also did the most laps (24) on one set of Medium tyres, while Zhou (Alfa Romeo) did the most (19) on the Soft.

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR F1 TYRES  
 

The Qatar Grand Prix is next, from 6 to 8 October. Formula 1 will therefore be making its second appearance at the Lusail circuit, following on from the inaugural race in 2021. The teams will have the C1 compound as P1 Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and the C3 as P Zero Red soft. The facilities at the Doha circuit have been completely renovated to host the championship which is due to race in Qatar for a further ten years. This Grand Prix will also be the fourth of the year to run to the Sprint Format, which will also be seen in Austin and Sao Paulo.

Max Verstappen took the Pirelli Pole Position Award for the Japanese Grand Prix, the Dutchman’s ninth of the year, a number that can no longer be beaten this season. It’s the second time the Red Bull driver has topped the number of poles in a year, the previous occasion dating back to 2021, when he took ten. It is Max’s 29^th career pole, which puts him level in the record books for this one-lap discipline with Juan Manuel Fangio.

As for the tyres, it was an almost entirely Soft day. The red-banded tyres not only monopolised qualifying, which is nearly always the case when the standard tyre rules are in place, but also the third and final free practice session, when only three drivers used anything other than the C3: Stroll (Aston Martin) did ten laps on the C1, while the two AlphaTauri drivers, Lawson and Tsunoda did the same number on the C2.

Verstappen made the most of being the only driver to have three sets of new Softs going into qualifying. The reigning world champion used a set for his only run in Q1, reusing it in Q2, comfortably making the cut to the next phase without having to rely on a new set. Then it was showtime for Max in Q3 when, on his final run, he improved on his previous best by one and a thousandth seconds.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR         
 

“Congratulations to Max Verstappen, who with today’s performance secures the record for the most pole positions of the season for the second time in his career: we will have a special award for him in Abu Dhabi! On the technical front, today all the teams prepared meticulously for qualifying, looking for the best way to manage the Softs which, at one of the most probing tracks from a tyre perspective, were delivering their peak performance on the first timed lap.

Now looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, we feel that a two-stop will clearly be the most popular option, especially as temperatures should be the same as today. In fact, it will be interesting to see what combinations of compounds will be chosen by the strategists, given that all three of them have shown themselves capable of playing a part. The Hard is probably the favourite compound, with eight drivers having saved the two sets of C1 supplied, while the other twelve have one new set. Furthermore, the Soft, which obviously has shown the greatest signs of thermal degradation, could be useful for the first stint for those looking to make up places at the start, or also towards the end of the race, when with less fuel on board, a driver could try and exploit the performance difference compared to those who might possibly be running a slower and more used compound.”

MARIO ISOLA - DIRECTOR PIRELLI MOTORSPORT   
 

“Today’s Singapore Grand Prix was a great advert for Formula 1. I think that all the spectators, those at the track and those in front of their screens, must have been holding their breath right to the very end, seeing four drivers fighting for the honour of being the first to put an end to Red Bull’s dominance this season. Really well done to all four, but also to others in this race, not just the drivers, but those on the pit wall too, because they all helped to put on a great show with on-track duels and very intense tactical battles.

On the tyre side, I think the word that best describes the day is management. For almost the entire race, we saw drivers and teams managing their pace in order to be in the best possible shape, not just to achieve the goals they had set themselves, but also to be ready to exploit any opportunity that might come along later. One example of this Is Leclerc’s decision to start on the Soft to try and immediately pass Russell in order to build a gap between the Mercedes and Sainz, out in the lead. Or with Mercedes, who had an additional set of new Medium tyres available for both drivers and made the most of the VSC to change strategy and therefore go on the attack right to the very end, challenging Sainz for the win.

From a technical point of view, the three compounds performed as expected in terms of degradation. The one-stop proved to be the quickest strategy, with the two-stop only working when the race was neutralised. The Hard and the Medium saw the most use, which was also what was expected, but the Soft, which is generally considered mainly as a qualifying compound, also showed it had a part to play in the first stint.”

THE DAY ON TRACK   
 

Most drivers (13 of the 19) chose to start on the Medium compound, with the remaining six divided equally between the Soft and Hard. However, the Soft proved to be a tactically sound choice for Zhou in the Alfa Romeo, as the Chinese driver, starting from pit lane, pitted immediately to then try and run the entire race on the Hard. The Safety Car came out on lap 20, triggering a rush for pit lane, with all the drivers who had started on the Medium coming in to switch to the Hard, while those who had started on the latter staying out on track before making their only pit stop at around two thirds race distance. Shortly after, on lap 44, another VSC produced another opportunity to mix things up. That is what the Mercedes pair did along with the Williams, coming in for Medium tyres, while Alonso and Magnussen pitted for Softs. In the closing stages of the race the C4 proved to be very quick for both Hamilton and Russell, who rapidly closed on the leaders (Sainz and Norris) and for Verstappen and Perez who used the extra pace to come from the back to finish in the points.

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR F1 TYRES  
 

No rest on the Formula 1 calendar as next weekend it’s time for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka from 22 to 24 September. Tyres will be the C1 compound as the P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as P Zero Red soft, to deal with the lateral and vertical loads the tyres are subjected to at this twisty track with a highly abrasive surface over its length of almost six kilometres.

Carlos Sainz took pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, the fifth of his career and the second in a row, following on from the one in Monza a fortnight ago. The Ferrari driver beat second placed George Russell (Mercedes) by 72 thousandths of a second and was 79 thousandths quicker than Charles Leclerc, third in the other Ferrari.

As was entirely predictable, the C5, the softest compound tyre in use at this Grand Prix, was the one to run today, right from the free practice session when the teams paid particular attention to preparing for qualifying. The Alfa Romeo drivers also did a long run on the Soft, proving that it could be a possible option for the race. However, the fastest strategy is clearly the one that favours the use of the Medium tyre for the start, before a switch to the Hard, from around lap 20 of the 62 lap race distance.

The other leitmotiv of the day was track evolution, with it becoming quicker and quicker as the track gradually rubbered-in, as could be seen from the way all the drivers improved from one run to the next.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Carlos Sainz by the singer Eric Nam. Born and raised in America, Nam became an established singer-songwriter in the Republic of Korea after being invited to take part in a television talent show, thanks to the popularity of his YouTube channel. He was named Man of the Year by GQ Korea and was included in the Forbes Under 30 Asia list. Nam has recently made his acting debut in the film “Transplant” and his latest album is “House on a hill.”

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR         
 

“It was a very spectacular session offering up several surprises, producing a grid that few would have predicted going into this Grand Prix. It means that all Formula 1 fans are in for a very unpredictable race, which will make it even more interesting. On this track, a one-stop to change tyres is usually the quickest strategy, given that time lost in the pit lane is one of the highest on the calendar. On paper, the best combination involves the Medium and the Hard. From what we have seen, one cannot rule out the Soft completely, but one must consider that the advantage it has in terms of grip over the Medium at the start is significantly reduced because of the short run to the first corner. In addition, this compound requires careful management on a full fuel load in the first stint. However, the Soft could be worth considering in case there is a Safety Car period in the second part of the race.

Usually, Singapore can also throw up some surprises in terms of the weather, with sudden rain showers, some of them heavy, as was the case last year. At the moment, the risk of rain is very low according to the forecast, although more likely in the afternoon: that could potentially affect tyre behaviour if there were to be storms strong enough to wash away the rubber that has been laid down on the track so far up until this evening.”

Apart from the top three drivers and the Red Bull team representative, another star of the prizegiving was Typhon, the trophy created by Italian artist Ruth Beraha, inspired both by Greek mythology as well as the shape of the exhaust pipes on a Formula 1 car. Typhon is a mythological figure – the giant son of Gaia – who is traditionally characterised by his extraordinary strength and a hundred snakes wrapped around his head, symbolising a shocking personification of nature.

The 2023 Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia trophy was commissioned by Pirelli and contemporary art space Pirelli HangarBicocca. It represents a fusion between an idea from the artist and a production process that unites cutting-edge technology and robotics such as 3D cutting and production, as well as the work of craftsmen specialised in welding, polishing, assembly, and gilding. The end result is reminiscent of the art from the finest goldsmiths.

MARIO ISOLA - DIRECTOR PIRELLI MOTORSPORT   
 

“Even if Verstappen and Red Bull once again picked up all the points on offer, the Italian Grand Prix was truly spectacular with plenty of thrilling and close duels. Today’s track temperature was always above 40° C, which led to slightly higher tyre degradation. Despite this and even with a trio of compounds that were softer than last year’s, the drivers definitely did not have to worry about tyre management as could be seen from the many duels we witnessed, some going on for several laps. In terms of strategy, our predictions from yesterday were pretty much confirmed in the race. The one-stop was definitely the quickest and those who pitted earlier than the predicted window then had to make a second stop, except for the Williams duo, who once again proved to be particularly adept at tyre management.

Finally, I want to thank the crowd of hundreds of thousands of fans who packed out the grandstands at this historic circuit over the three days. This is our home race and, even if we are not competing with opponents on track, we feel part of the great show that is Formula 1, especially here at Monza.”

THE DAY ON TRACK   
 

The race evolved in a completely linear way with, as expected, two compounds, the Medium and Hard, playing their part. The Softs were not used at all. 17 drivers out of 20 chose to start on the C4, with just Hamilton, Bottas and Magnussen preferring the C3. Six drivers pitted twice, but in Piastri’s case that was because he had to come in to change the damaged front wing after an incident with Hamilton, while the other five (Gasly, Zhou, Lawson, Hulkenberg and Magnussen) chose this route as the drop in performance from their tyres was too high in the first stint. Of the three drivers who started on the Hard, Hamilton and Bottas finished higher than their grid position, two better for the English Mercedes driver and four for Alfa Romeo’s Finn. Magnussen however only made up one place because the two drivers ahead of him did not make it to the chequered flag.

Formula 2

The Prema team exerted a stranglehold on the penultimate round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, winning the Sprint Race with Frederik Vesti, while Oliver Bearman was victorious in the Feature Race. The ART Grand Prix team also visited the podium on both days, with Victor Martins second on Saturday and Theo Pourchaire third on Sunday morning, to maintain his lead in the championship. The other two podium finishers were Richard Verschoor (VAR), third in the Sprint, and Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS), second in the Feature Race. Monza was also the backdrop to the presentation, put on mainly for the media and those involved in the category, of the new Formula 2 car that will be used as from next year, again fitted with 18” Pirelli tyres. As for tyre performance one can only really take into consideration Saturday’s Sprint, as today’s Feature Race was neutralised so often. The Medium showed very limited degradation, but that in no way affected the show on track. 

Formula 3

This year’s FIA Formula 3 Championship reached its conclusion this weekend, with Italian teams finishing in style. The Trident team’s Gabriel Bortoleto only needed the two points for pole position to secure the Drivers’ title. The Argentinian driver added to the celebrations with a second place in Saturday’s race behind Franco Colapinto (MP) and ahead of Mari Boya (MP). The teams’ title was not decided until Sunday morning with Prema getting the upper hand over Trident partly thanks to a second place for Zak O’Sullivan, enough to assign him the runner-up spot in the Drivers’ championship. The winner of the last race of the season was Jonny Edgar (MP) with Taylor Barnard completing the podium trio for the Jenzer team. This last round of the season made use of the Soft compound, which performed as expected, with an acceptable level of degradation, so that the drivers were able to push as much as they saw fit.

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR F1 TYRES  
 

Monza marks the end of the European leg of the Formula 1 season, which moves on to Singapore in a fortnight’s time. The street circuit hosts the Singapore Grand Prix night race from 15 to 17 September and Pirelli will be supplying the C3, C4 and C5 compounds. 
Next week, Pirelli will be testing for two days on Tuesday and Wednesday both in Monza and at Fiorano. At the home of the Italian Grand Prix, the programme will focus on dry weather tyre development with Red Bull and Alpine, while on the Ferrari-owned track, the work centres on trying new solutions for rain tyres with the Scuderia.

After a very orange celebration in Zandvoort a week ago when Max Verstappen took pole, today was a red letter day for Ferrari, as Carlos Sainz delighted the Monza crowd by securing the number one slot on the grid. It was a very close three-way fight between him and his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished third and reigning world champion Max Verstappen in second place, the trio separated by just 67 thousandths of a second.

Qualifying ran to the ATA (Alternative Tyre Allocation) format, with drivers having to use the Hard compound in Q1, the Medium in Q2 and the Soft in Q3. Combined with the fact that the weather was practically unchanged throughout the 60 minute session, it meant that conditions were pretty much perfect to evaluate the performance difference between the three compounds: half a second between the C3 and C4 and four tenths between the C4 and C5, which is very much in line with our prior simulations.

116 sets of tyres were used during qualifying, while only the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers were able to get through the three phases using just five sets, as all four of them used just one set of Hard tyres in Q1.

The ATA continued to have an effect on the teams’ work programmes in the final free practice session, as all three compounds were used, running different fuel loads, simulating both qualifying laps and long runs.

Presenting Carlos Sainz with the Pirelli Pole Position Award was Fabio Rovazzi, whose latest single, “La discoteca italiana,” recorded with Orietta Berti, has been one of the hits of this summer in Italy. Having made his name as a youtuber, Rovazzi has moved on to music, acting and presenting on television.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR         
 

“The Grand Prix at Monza is always special, because of the great atmosphere at what is rightly known as the Temple of Speed and also because of the show it puts on for the public, who today were treated to a thrilling fight for pole between the two Ferrari drivers and the amazing champion, Max Verstappen. It was really exciting as the three of them improved their times in Q3 one after the other.

On the tyre front, these two days have seen us trial the ATA format once again, this time in stable weather. The teams and drivers have shown that they have adapted quickly to the different challenges this has created in terms of tyre usage, without affecting the on track activity. Now we will carry out a detailed analysis of the whole weekend to see if this format could be adopted on a regular basis in the future, maybe with a few adjustments, or if we will stick with the standard tyre allocation.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race and possible strategies, we can confirm that a single stop is the quickest option, with the Hard compound being the main protagonist. It remains to be seen if some will decide to start on the Medium to have more flexibility, with a good level of grip at the start, or risk starting on the Soft to try and make up places in the early stages. The two-stop strategy is conditioned by the fact the pit lane is very long and therefore time is lost at each pit stop, but it could be a valid choice if the race is neutralised at any point.”

In Singapore, as is usual for a street circuit, the softest trio of compounds has been selected: C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. This combination offers maximum grip on a twisty and demanding track for the tyres like Marina Bay, especially under traction and braking.

At Suzuka – one of the most challenging tracks for drivers yet severe layouts for tyres – there will instead be the hardest nomination used so far in 2023: C1 as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as P Zero Red soft.

Formula 1 will return for the second time in its history to the Losail circuit in Qatar, which made its debut in 2021. This is another harsh circuit on tyres with an additional unknown factor thanks to completely new asphalt, alongside a new paddock infrastructure (with the venue now set to remain on the calendar for at least the next 10 years). Just like Japan, Pirelli will bring the C1 as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as P Zero Red soft to Qatar.

MARIO ISOLA - DIRECTOR PIRELLI MOTORSPORT   
 

“It was a very spectacular race, with several changes in the weather which made life difficult for the teams when it came to deciding on which tyre to use and when to pit. From a purely technical point of view, apart from the literally colourful sight of having all five our tyre colours being used, two aspects are worth highlighting. As expected over the course of the weekend, the cooler temperatures favoured the use of the Softs, clearly the best tyre in the dry, even coping well in wet conditions, as demonstrated by the drivers who chose not to pit in the opening laps when it started to rain. The compound most affected was the Hard, but the long stint from Russell, who would probably have run to the chequered flag if the rain had not returned, demonstrated that this tyre was not totally unsuited to the conditions. The second point to underline concerns the Intermediate, which once again proved to be competitive with either a little or a lot of water on the track. 
Finally, there are various people I wish to congratulate: Max Verstappen for his ninth consecutive win, the Zandvoort spectators who once again put on an amazing show in the grandstands, their enthusiasm so contagious despite the bad weather, Fernando Alonso back on the podium, as he had been doing regularly at the start of the season, at one point even looking to challenge for the win and to Pierre Gasly who produced a really great result.”

THE DAY ON TRACK   
 

The rain was the main factor that affected the outcome of the race. Everyone started on dry tyres, Hamilton on the Medium, with everyone else on the Soft. But right from the opening lap the rain appeared, forcing almost the entire field to pit for Intermediates. However, some brave drivers – the Williams duo, Hulkenberg, Bottas and Piastri – opted to stay out, banking on the rain not lasting long. Indeed, after about ten laps, the track was again suitable for slicks so that in the space of 12 laps everyone was back on dry tyres. In these very cool conditions, the Soft was clearly the best compound and was used for as long as possible, as can be seen from the fact that Tsunoda did 50 laps with one set and Albon 44. Only one driver, Russell, opted for the Hard tyre, finding himself down the back end of the pack after the Safety Car came out following Sargeant going off track. The Mercedes driver would probably have finished the race on that set of C1s if the rain had not decided to once again shake things up, falling even more heavily than at the start of the race. Once again, all the drivers began to pit and with the rain really coming down, some even opted to fit the extreme wet, Ocon being the first to do this followed by the two Red Bull drivers. The race was red flagged after Zhou went off, so the question as to how these tyres would have performed in these conditions went unanswered. In the closing stages after the restart, the intermediate proved it was a valid choice even with a lot of water on a track with a temperature of only 20° C.

A tricky weekend for F2 in Zandvoort. Yesterday’s Sprint Race was interrupted on the opening lap because of an accident, fortunately with no one hurt, involving Maini, Boschung and Crawford. The rain was so heavy that a restart was impossible, so that, as per the regulations, no points were awarded with Isack Hadjar (Hitech), Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) and Oliver Bearman (Prema) in the top three places. Today’s Feature Race was won by Clement Novalak (Trident) ahead of Zane Maloney (Rodin Carlin) and Jak Crawford (Hitech). Positions at the top of the championship standings have not changed as Theo Pourchaire and Fredrik Vesti both failed to score this weekend, so they are still separated by 12 points, with two rounds remaining, at Monza next week and Abu Dhabi at the end of the season.

COMING UP NEXT FOR OUR F1 TYRES 
 

Next weekend, Monza hosts the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia 2023. Tyres for the Italian round, from 1 to 3 September will be the C3, C4 and C5 compound and for a second time after it was first tried in Hungary, the Alternative Tyre Allocation will be applied. Pirelli is the Italian Grand Prix title sponsor, its home race, as its headquarters are just a few kilometres from the circuit in the Bicocca district of Milan.

There was no way Max Verstappen was going to disappoint his fans who formed a sea of orange at his home race and indeed he did not. The Dutchman secured his 28th pole position, his third in a row at Zandvoort for a perfect 100% record at this track. He put in an incredible final lap in Q3, destroying the opposition, lapping over half a second quicker than second placed Lando Norris in the McLaren. Six different teams made it into the top six: apart from the world championship leader in the Red Bull and the aforementioned McLaren, the order sees Mercedes (Russell), Williams (Albon), Aston Martin (Alonso) and Ferrari (Sainz).

Rain, sometimes very heavy, played a major part in proceedings to the extent that slick tyres only put in an appearance in Q3. In free practice, extreme wets and intermediates were used, while in Q1 and Q2 the latter tyre was the best choice, performing well in the changing track conditions even once the rain eased off. Already in the final stages of Q2, a dry line began to appear so that by the start of Q3, despite some understandable caution, half the drivers opted to go out on Softs, to be copied immediately by those who had gone with intermediates, before realising this was the wrong choice.

Verstappen was presented with the Pirelli Pole Position Award by Marta Garcia, the Prema Racing driver who currently leads the F1 Academy series on 235 points with one round remaining. The 23 year old Spaniard has previously raced in the W Series and Spanish F4. The final round of the of the F1 Academy season, for which Pirelli is the sole tyre supplier, takes place at Austin on the same race weekend as the United States Grand Prix from 16 to 18 November.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR         
 

“It was a spectacular qualifying, which is often the case when track conditions change very quickly. In the end, Max Verstappen did it again, but it’s worth noting there are six different teams represented in the top six places, a sign that Formula 1 is in rude health despite the dominance of one driver and one team. Tomorrow’s race will have two sides to it. On the one hand, Max Verstappen is the clear favourite, while on the other, it is impossible to say who else could finish on the podium. In terms of strategy, there are several options on the table, both in terms of the number of stops where the choice is between two or one, and in terms of choice of compound. This variety is down to several factors. First and foremost, our Hard tyre here is the C1, which has been modified for this year and, while degrading very little offers more grip than its predecessor. Then there is the weather with cool temperatures facilitating the use of the Medium and Soft compounds. Finally, there’s the fact that there is a wide choice in terms of types of tyre. The number of stops can also vary depending on the characteristics of the cars and the choices made when it comes to aero downforce levels. Those who favour track position will most likely opt for a single stop, using a combination of C2 and C1. Those who believe they have what is needed to be competitive when it comes to overtaking, will go for the two stops, favouring the use of the Medium and Soft. Added to this is the unknown factor concerning the weather, even if the forecast is for something dryer than what we saw today. All these factors combined point to it being a very interesting race tomorrow.”

The C1, C2, and C3 have been chosen for Zandvoort, as was the case last year. Zandvoort is one of the most demanding circuits of the year for tyres, especially with the two banked corners (Turn 3 and Turn 14). But the nomination is quite identical to 2022: this year’s C1 is a new and softer compound that sits between the C2 and the previous C1 (which is now known as the C0).

Monza will be the second time that the new ATA (Alternative Tyre Allocation) format is used, which made its debut at the Hungaroring before the summer break. The three softest compounds have been selected for the ‘Temple of Speed’: C3, C4, and C5. This is one step softer than last year’s nomination (C2, C3, and C4), which – in combination with the ATA format – could offer a wider range of options from a strategic point of view.

MARIO ISOLA - DIRECTOR, PIRELLI MOTORSPORT  
 

“Finally, a day with reasonable weather, rain only making an appearance briefly without having any significant impact on the way the race played out. Coming into this final part of the weekend practically in the dark, increased the number of unknown factors and, along with the large number of dry weather tyres available, as they were only used for a few laps in yesterday’s qualifying, this gave the teams a wider than usual range of possible strategies. Degradation on the Soft and Medium tyres was in line with our simulations given the relatively low track temperature. These low temperatures also meant the Hard was not very competitive and it was only used by one driver for a few kilometres. In terms of performance, the other two compounds were up to the task and the stint lengths varied according to whether a driver chose to push right from the start to make the most of the available grip, or manage the situation to lengthen the stint as much as possible, which was the case for the three drivers who only made a single pit stop. 
Finally, I would like to congratulate the fans (380,000 attendance) who put up with some very wet weather. They were rewarded with a great show, partly down to the Sprint weekend format which meant that, right from Friday, there was plenty of excitement on track. Formula 1 is soon going to take a short break, although we still have two more days of testing on Tuesday and Wednesday here at Spa, working with Aston Martin and McLaren. The daily work programme will depend a lot on what the weather has to offer.”

THE DAY ON TRACK

Medium and Soft were the most used compounds during the race, with the Hard only used by Norris for 12 laps in his second stint. 13 drivers opted to start on Softs, seven on Medium. The softest of the three compounds Pirelli brought here proved to be very competitive, also giving the teams greater flexibility in terms of strategy, with seven drivers opting to push right from the start, stopping before lap 10 (Sainz also pitted having sustained car damage) while others extended the stint as much as possible, like Gasly for example, who pitted after 23 laps. Those who started on Mediums also adopted different strategies: Russell managed to do 22 laps, Stroll just two fewer, while Tsunoda stopped on lap 9 and Alonso on 10. This compound was the out and out choice for the second stint, with much more similar stint lengths, in a window between 15 and 20 laps.
The most critical moment of this phase came shortly after half-distance when, for around ten minutes, it rained slightly. Lap times rapidly increased, reaching the limit for the crossover point to intermediates, but then the rain stopped and the track dried quickly. For the final stages, based partly on what had been learned in the first part of the race, the Soft was back in favour with the teams and drivers. Here too the stint lengths varied: the first three finishers completed a similar distance (Verstappen 14, Perez 15 and Leclerc 16), Norris did 27, while Ocon and Zhou ran for 19 while Tsunoda and Hulkenberg did 20.
Three drivers did just one stop – Russell, Stroll and Gasly – the first two of these finishing in the points, while the Frenchman was just outside in 11^th. Another trio, the two Williams drivers and Lewis Hamilton, made three stops. In the case of the Williams pair it was for strategic reasons, while the seven times world champion came in for a set of new Mediums to secure the extra point for fastest race lap.

Formula 2

Enzo Fittipaldi (Rodin Carlin) finally secured his first ever Formula 2 win, first past the flag in Saturday’s Sprint Race. Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) was classified second when Richard Verschoor (VAR) was disqualified after the race, which also promoted Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) to the third step of the podium. Victory in the Feature Race went to Jack Doohan (Invicta Virtuosi Racing), while stepping up to the second and third places on the podium were Pourchaire and Fittipaldi. The Frenchman now leads the series on 168 points, 12 more than Frederik Vesti (Prema Racing). Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS) is third on 134 points.

Formula 3

The Safety Car played a major role in the Formula 3 Sprint Race, to the extent the drivers were only able to “really” race for two laps. The final classification was then revised by the FIA, with Caio Collet (VAR) taking the win ahead of Taylor Barnard (Jenzer) and Paul Aron (Prema Racing.) The Englishman went on to be first past the chequered flag in the Feature Race. Third was his Jenzer team-mate Nikita Bedrin, who was unable to get past Campos Racing’s Christian Mansell, who came home second. Although he failed to score points in Spa, Gabriel Bortoleto (Trident) continues to head the drivers’ classification on 144 points. He now only needs a further two points to be out of reach of his pursuers, whatever they might do and clinch the title.  Prema’s Paul Aron is second on 106, one ahead of Josep Marti (Campos).

FORMULA 1 ACADEMY       
 

Nerea Martì (Campos Racing) took her first win of the season in race 1 at Paul Ricard in the penultimate round of the F1 Academy championship. Her team-mate Lola Lovinfosse was third behind Abbi Pulling (Rodin Carlin). Marta Garcia picked up plenty of points in the drivers’ championship, winning races 2 and 3. The Spanish Prema driver took the chequered flag ahead of Lena Bühler (ART Grand Prix) e Amna Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport) in race 2 and left the lower steps of the race 3 podium to a Bühler e Lovinfosse.

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES

Now it’s time for the Formula 1 summer break. The championship will resume with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort from 25 to 27 August and just one week later, the action switches to the final European round of the season, from 1 to 3 September when Monza hosts the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia 2023.

THE DAY ON TRACK

As was the case yesterday, rain had a major influence on the day, falling intermittently, sometimes very heavily. The Sprint Shootout got underway on a damp track, but the FIA did not declare it a “Wet Session” thus maintaining the need for drivers to use the Medium compound in Q1 and Q2 and the Soft in Q3. However, at first all drivers ran the Intermediates, but in the second part, as the racing line began to dry, a window appeared for slicks to be used: Stroll tried it but ended up in the barriers at Turn 9. In Q3, the track was ready for dry weather tyres and all ten drivers used the Soft compound as required by the regulations.  

The start of the race was delayed as the rain came down very heavily and then the Race Director opted for a rolling start after formation laps behind the Safety Car, which by regulation requires all the cars to be on extreme wets. Once the race was really underway, when the conditions were just right for the intermediates, all the teams split the strategy between their drivers, bringing one in immediately and the other on the next lap to fit the green-banded tyres.

At the moment, Meteo France is forecasting a 40% chance of rain tomorrow afternoon between 15 and 17, but it’s well known that it is very difficult to deliver an accurate forecast at Spa, even in the height of summer.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR   

“The Saturday of a Sprint weekend is always very exciting, even more so if rain plays a part. We saw three very close Sprint Shootout sessions, both on the intermediates and the Softs, with really close gaps, especially when one considers the length of the track. In the Race, it was practically impossible to evaluate the behaviour of the wet tyres, because once the Safety Car came into the pits, the conditions were clearly ideal for intermediates. They worked in the way we had expected from what we saw yesterday, with a reasonably limited degradation even over longer runs as seen in the race.
Tomorrow, the teams will go into the race with plenty of information about the rain tyres, but they will be pretty much in the dark when it comes to the dry weather ones. In the case of mixed conditions in the race, the crossover time from dry tyres to intermediates is estimated to be between 1.54/1.55.00, while from the intermediates to the extreme wets its between 2.04/2.05.00 (times based on a low fuel load).  If it does not rain, then they will all have to base their strategy simulations on data gathered from past races at this track and on how the trio of available compounds have behaved in the first part of this season. We are doing exactly that ourselves and at the moment all we can do is confirm our earlier prediction, which indicated there was not much difference between a one stop or a two stop. And, without much information, this becomes an even finer line, so there is a bigger chance of some surprises tomorrow.”

“It was a very interesting weekend which saw a trial of a new tyre allocation format, as well as evaluating bringing a trio of compounds one step softer than in the past. As for the ATA, first and foremost, it should be pointed out that it will be trialled again at Monza this coming September, on a track with completely different characteristics to this one and the data will be analysed very carefully. Apart from that, I’d say the two salient points from this weekend were that yesterday’s qualifying was more unpredictable than usual, because it presented the drivers with new challenges: the need to adapt quickly to the change of compound and the fact that having two sets of each compound for the race introduced greater flexibility in terms of strategy.

The fact that all the drivers made two stops in very hot conditions with a track temperature that was 53 degrees at the start, with no high degradation problems confirms that the three compounds we chose to bring here were the right ones, given that four drivers even used the Soft for their first stint, showing that it was not out of the question to race with it.

Now we come to the final round before the summer break, at Spa-Francorchamps, one of the most fascinating tracks on the calendar, with totally different characteristics to those of the Hungaroring, both in terms of its layout and when it comes to the sort of weather we can expect. Belgium will be the third round of the season to feature the Sprint format, which should ensure an even more exciting show.”

THE DAY ON TRACK  
 

Max Verstappen took his ninth win of the season, taking his total number of Formula 1 victories to 44. For Red Bull it was their twelfth consecutive win, a new outright record. Although he missed out on pole position yesterday afternoon by just three thousandths, the reigning world champion still managed to lead across the line for all 70 laps of the race. He made the most of the fact that polesitter Lewis Hamilton did not get the best of starts and also came off best in a thrilling duel with Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. From then on, Verstappen was in dominant form, winning by over 30 seconds from Lando Norris, who secured his second consecutive podium finish. Rounding off the podium trio was Sergio Perez, who staged a great climb up the order from ninth on the grid.

As widely predicted all the drivers opted for two stops, although there were several permutations. For example, the top two finishers opted to go Medium/Hard/Medium, while Perez started on Hard before twice fitting Mediums. Four drivers started on Softs: Sainz, Gasly, Stroll and Tsunoda. Making the best use of the extra grip afforded by the C5 was Ferrari’s Spanish driver, who crossed the line sixth at the end of the opening lap, having started eleventh. AlphaTauri’s Japanese driver used all three available compounds, while in the Williams, Alex Albon did the most consecutive laps (38) on Hard tyres. Sainz drove the longest stint on Softs (15 laps) while Ricciardo did no fewer than 40 laps on one set of Mediums. The most used compound was the C3 (770 laps, 61.5%), followed by the C4 (448, 35.78%) and the C5 (34, 2.72%).

Formula 2

Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) led the Sprint Race from start to finish, beating Ayumu Iwasa (Dams) by over four seconds. Behind them came Oliver Bearman (Prema). Virtuosi Racing took their first win of the season courtesy of Jack Doohan in the Feature Race in Hungary. This was the Australian’s maiden win in the category and he kept series leader Frederik Vesti (Prema Racing) at bay, who had taken second place at the start, with third place going to Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix). Vesti still leads the series on 153 points, by 11 points from Pourchaire and 21 from Iwasa.

Formula 3

The Budapest Formula 3 weekend saw the Italian flag flying. Gabriele Minì (Hitech) won the Sprint Race, after overtaking Nikita Bedrin, who went on to finish third, on lap 7, while Gabriel Bortoleto (Trident) was second past the flag. Prema dominated the Feature Race with a one-two finish for Zak O’Sullivan and Dino Berganovic, who had occupied the top two slots on the grid. They were joined on the podium by Franco Colapinto (MP Motorsport). Bortoleto finished seventh, but still heads the drivers’ classification on 144 points. O’Sullivan is now on 101 points, just one ahead of Marti (Campos Racing).

WRC

The eighth round of the World Rally Championship was won by a dominant Kalle Rovanpera, who was quickest on almost all the special stages of the Rally of Estonia in his Toyota. The Finn leads the series and joining him on the podium were Thierry Neuville and Esapeka Lappi for Hyundai. The Scorpion Soft tyres set the standard for the drivers in a rally that threw up a few surprises, linked chiefly to the increased speed of the cars. In fact, the greater pace added to the usual challenges encountered on this event, namely road surfaces with wheel tracks that constantly got deeper with each run, high speed sections interspersed with twisty ones and many jumps, not to mention gravel.

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES 
 

The Belgian Grand Prix takes place next week at Spa-Francorchamps, one of the historic Formula 1 venues, where tyres are subjected to significant lateral and vertical forces. Pirelli will bring the C2 compound as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow medium and C4 as P Zero Red soft. The Ardennes circuit hosts another F1 Sprint weekend, following on from those in Azerbaijan and Austria. Saturday is given over to the Sprint Shootout and race, while qualifying for Sunday’s race takes place on Friday afternoon.

Lewis Hamilton took his ninth Hungarian Grand Prix pole position, the most poles of any driver at any one circuit. The last time he had been fastest in Q3 dates back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and today’s result brings his total number of pole positions to 104.

Saturday’s weather at the Hungaroring was very different to that experienced yesterday, with sunshine and typical summer temperatures- the air above 29° C, the track at 50 °C - with quite strong winds. In the third free practice session, the teams put in a lot of work, once again, with quite different programmes from each other. Some did very long stints on the Medium: Sainz and Leclerc doing 17 laps each on the same set in their Ferraris, others made little use of the Softs, with Hamilton running them for just three laps, while for Alfa Romeo, Zhou and Bottas ran all three compounds.

Qualifying saw the debut of the new format which required drivers to use only Hard tyres in Q1, Medium in Q2 and Soft in Q3. Of the ten drivers who made it to Q3, only Norris managed to save a set of new Mediums, more than likely the preferred choice for the start of tomorrow’s race. The others used all six available sets of new tyres. Ocon, Gasly, Ricciardo and Tsunoda managed to do three runs on the Hard in Q1, the AlphaTauri duo running used tyres for their first run.

This qualifying format meant that the performance gap between the three compounds was easier to identify precisely: seven tenths from C3 to C4 and half a second from C4 to C5.

Lewis Hamilton was presented with the Pirelli Pole Position Award by Zac, a kart racer and one of the youngsters who are reporting on the weekend for Sky Sports as part of its first ever F1 broadcast aimed at children. They will actually commentate on the race for Sky Sports UK and Sky Deutschland with the help of graphics, animation and straightforward technical information.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR       
 

“I think this was a very interesting qualifying, with the new format posing various challenges for the drivers. It made for even closer times and more unpredictability than at previous events. That can be seen from the fact that seven teams are represented in the top ten and the fastest ten qualifiers are all within six tenths of each other. For example, the drivers had to adapt to the switch from one compound to another in the three phases of qualifying, something they are no longer used to, ever since the rule stating they had to start the race on the same set of tyres with which they made the cut out of Q2 was abolished. At the same time, considering that the Hard seems like the best choice of race tyre, many drivers opted not to use these sets in free practice and therefore found themselves somewhat in the dark in Q1, so that even the top teams had to do two runs.

“In FP3, the long runs showed that, with a track temperature of around 50 °C, which is what we can also expect for the race, the C5 does not seem to be the ideal choice for the race. At the same time, the higher temperatures compared to yesterday and the normal track evolution, always very significant at the Hungaroring, sees the balance swinging more in favour of the two harder compounds, the C3 and C4. Therefore, the most likely strategy is for two stops, starting on the C4 and running two further stints on the C3. A single stop (Hard-Medium) is possible but it’s very much on the limit, both in terms of performance drop-off and tread life. Add these factors to the way the grid order looks and it should be a spectacular race.”

“First of all, well done to the amazing crowd at Silverstone: 480,000 is an impressive record, a sign of the incredible popularity Formula 1 is experiencing right now. 
From a tyre point of view, this weekend delivered interesting answers. The introduction of the new construction went according to plan and initial analysis of the data is in line with our expectations. The feeling that all three compounds could be used in the race was confirmed this afternoon. Certainly, the considerably cooler temperatures when compared to Friday allowed for the Soft to be pushed harder for longer. But apart from that, the fact that all three compounds were valid choices meant the teams could choose the tyre combination that best suited their cars. Finally, a word about degradation, which was lower than expected for all three compounds, even though this track is one of the toughest on tyres. It meant the teams were able to extend their stints without any significant drop off in performance.”

THE DAY ON TRACK  
 

Another win for Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion now clearly the dominant force, along with his Red Bull Racing car, in 2023. This was Max’s second win at the Silverstone circuit, following on from the Formula 1 70^th Anniversary Grand Prix held here in 2020. He was never really troubled, even if he was surprised at the speed of Lando Norris’ start in the McLaren from the spot alongside him on the grid. Once back in front, the Dutchman had a trouble-free time of it, even after the restart on lap 39, as the race had been neutralised while Kevin Magnussen’s Haas was removed from the side of the track. Much to the delight of most of the 480,000 strong crowd – a record for this track, Verstappen was joined on the podium by two British drivers, the aforementioned Norris and Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver having been the main beneficiary of the appearance of the Safety Car.

Red Bull’s win puts the team equal with McLaren for the most consecutive race wins (11.) The last time a driver for the Austro-British team did not win a race dates back to George Russell’s victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix last year.

One-stop was the most common strategy, but the Soft proved far more popular than our earlier predictions. The only cars not to run the C3 were the two Ferraris and two McLarens.

The most used compound during the Grand Prix was the C2, which ran 485 laps, 50% of the total completed. The C3 was second (337 laps, 34.74%), followed by the C1 (148, 15.26%).

Russell’s 28 laps was the longest stint on the Soft, while for the Medium, Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris and Alonso did 33 and Bottas ran 32 on the Hard.

The fastest laps for each compound were all set on tyres that had done ten or more laps. For the C1, the best time (1.30.543) was set by Norris on lap 43 with a set of tyres that was 10 laps old. Russell was quickest with the C2 (1.31.124) on lap 13 of his second stint, while the fastest race lap fell to Verstappen in 1.30.275 on C3 on lap 11 of his second stint. It should also be noted that after pit stops for Russell and Verstappen, the race was neutralised for five laps.

Formula 2

Wins for Frederik Vesti and Victor Martins in the Sprint and Feature races respectively at the Silverstone round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Saturday’s race started in the rain, heavy enough for the cars to leave the grid following the Safety Car. Prema Racing’s Danish driver was first past the line ahead of Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) and Jack Doohan (Invicta Virtuosi Racing). The Safety Car was also required in the Feature Race, won by Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) despite being given a five second penalty. Another podium for Pourchaire, third behind Zane Maloney (Rodin Carlin). Vesti still leads the classification on 135 points ahead of Pourchaire (129) and Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS, 111 points).

Formula 3

The FIA Formula 3 Championship has not got long to run now with Silverstone hosting the sixth of nine rounds this season. Brazil’s Gabriel Bortoleto (Trident) still leads the standings on the same 36 points as before, ahead of Spain’s Josep Maria Martì (Campos Racing) while Italy’s Gabriele Minì (Hitech Pulse-Eight) and the Estonian Paul Aron (Prema Racing) are equal third on 77 points, 51 behind the leader. The wins in England went to Franco Colapinto (MP Motorsport) in the Sprint, ahead of Bortoleto and Christian Mansell (Campos Racing) while the Feature ended in a one-two for Trident, Oliver Goethe taking his maiden win ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli with Martì completing the podium.

F1 ACADEMY 
 

Thrills and excitement in the fifth round of the F1 Academy season, the series for women drivers which has Pirelli as its tyre supplier, held at the Monza circuit this weekend. Three races, three different winners: Marta Garcia (Prema Racing) was victorious in race-1, a photo finish putting her just 9 thousandths ahead of Lena Buhler. Jessica Edgar for Rodin Carlin rounded off the podium. ART Grand Prix’s Swiss driver then won race-2 after a duel with Bianca Bustamante (Prema Racing). Third place was again a Rodin Carlin driver, but this time it was Abbi Pulling. The English girl was second in the race-3 which ended behind the Safety Car because of a collision down the back of the field, beaten to the chequered flag by Bustamante with Nerea Marti (Campos Racing) third, following a penalty handed out to Amna Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport). Garcia still leads the field on 190 points ahead of Hamna Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport) on 154 and Lena Buhler (148).

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES 
 

The next Formula 1 round is the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on 21 to 23 July. The softest compounds in the range (C3, C4 and C5) will be used at the Hungaroring and the event will trial the Alternative Tyre Allocation, a format which means that only Hard tyres can be used in Q1, Medium in Q2 and Soft in Q3. The use of ATA reduces the number of sets of dry weather tyres available for each car to 11, two fewer than on a traditional race weekend. The test will then be repeated at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. 

Max Verstappen took his 27^th F1 pole position, his seventh this year. Even if that looked very predictable based on yesterday’s performance, the way it was achieved and the source of the threat to the Dutchman’s position was certainly surprising. The Red Bull driver had to push hard all the way to the very end to get ahead of Land Norris’ McLaren, the Englishman delivering a great performance to claim second place ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri, third.

The track was damp for the start of qualifying, with sporadic light rain. Five drivers – the two Ferraris, the two Haas and Sargeant in the Williams - started off with an out-in lap on intermediates, while the rest began on Soft tyres. FP3 looked different as it had started in the dry, with drivers running all three slick compounds and then on a track that got progressively wetter, all drivers got a chance for a more in-depth assessment of the intermediate tyres.

The best time of the day, a 1.26.720 was in line with our earlier simulation, given that it was just 20 hundredths slower.

On hand to present Max Verstappen with the Pirelli Pole Position Award was Paulo Dybala, the AS Roma forward and a footballing world champion as part of Argentina’s winning team in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR       
 

“It was a busy, exciting and interesting day, as is often the case when track conditions keep changing rapidly. In the last free practice session, we saw drivers mainly doing laps with a low fuel load: the few who tried to gather data on tyre behaviour over a longer distance, running with more fuel on board, did not have much time to do so as the rain arrived. But this did allow them to learn more about the intermediate tyre and to calculate the crossover time to slicks (112%) on a demanding track like Silverstone and from the comments we have received from the teams and drivers, everything seems to be in line with expectations, both in terms of warm-up and car balance.

Track conditions improved rapidly throughout qualifying as it gradually dried out, with the order changing constantly right up to the chequered flag. Everyone used the Soft tyres and the C3 proved to have excellent warm-up, even though air and track temperatures were considerably lower than yesterday’s, also considering that drivers chose to wait several minutes for the green light, sitting in the fast lane in the pits, therefore without the benefit of the blankets.

Tomorrow’s race should be run in the dry, although the forecast here is traditionally a bit haphazard. In terms of strategy, the C3 presents itself more and more as a viable choice and so a two-stop is probably the quickest option. That means we can expect to see different choices between the teams leading to more excitement and uncertainty.”

In Hungary the Alternative Tyre Allocation (ATA) will make its debut: a new allocation for qualifying that was originally scheduled to be used at the cancelled Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix and will also be tested at the Italian Grand Prix in September.

Under the ATA regulations, only one type of compound will be used in each of the three qualifying sessions: hard for Q1, medium for Q2, and soft for Q3. As a result, the total number of slick tyre sets supplied by Pirelli is reduced to 11, as opposed to the usual 13.

The ATA allocation is split into three hard, four medium and four soft tyre sets. The wet-weather allocation remains unchanged: four sets of Cinturato Green intermediate and three sets of Cinturato Blue full wet.  Each driver will have a total of seven sets of tyres available for Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday's race (with at least one set of hards and one set of mediums having to be saved for the race, as per the regulations). Of the remaining four sets available, one will be returned after FP1, one after FP2, and two after FP3.

“One driver dominated this Grand Prix from start to finish, but there was plenty of excitement in the battles between the nineteen others. From our point of view, everything went well. Our simulations going into this race were confirmed on track, in all the changing conditions we experienced from Friday through to today. We knew the Soft would not be a suitable race tyre, but both Medium and Hard allowed those behind the wheel to push and attack when necessary, showing a sufficient differential in degradation between them, without suffering any excessive overheating. In terms of strategy too, the race went to plan. The VSC on lap 15 did not influence the number of stops, but it did open up alternative choices terms of choosing the window for the first pit stop. The top four finishers went for two Medium stints and one Hard, if we ignore Verstappen’s final stop which is not relevant to this analysis, while those who from Friday had preferred to keep two sets of C3, mainly opted to use both along with a set of Mediums.”

THE RACE FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW

Max Verstappen topped every single results sheet from the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, picking up the maximum 34 points in this ninth round of the World Championship. The Dutchman permitted himself the luxury of an unplanned pit stop with just two laps remaining to secure the extra point for the race fastest lap. Today, Sergio Perez made his second appearance of the weekend on the podium, with a fine charge through the field to finish third, after his second place finish yesterday. Scuderia Ferrari drivers also visited the podium twice with Carlos Sainz third in yesterday’s short race and Charles Leclerc taking the runner-up spot this afternoon, to secure his second podium finish of the season. It was also the 800th time that a Ferrari driver has stood on an F1 podium.

The race was run on a dry track and the temperatures were slightly lower than on Friday afternoon with the air at 24 °C and the track at 32 °C. The strategies adopted matched the previous day’s predictions. The Soft (C5) was hardly used at all, with the exception of Verstappen’s final assault on the fastest race lap. The kilometres completed were thus fairly equally divided between the Hard (C3,) 54.55% of the total laps completed and the Medium (C4), 45.3%.
Predictions relating to the number of stops and their windows of operation were also confirmed, with a two-stop proving to the be the quickest strategy, especially for those running two sets of Medium and one of Hard.
The longest stint was 36 laps from Kevin Magnussen on the Hard, while Nyck De Vries did the most (33) on the Medium.

Formula 2

Both races at Spielberg were spectacular with wins for Jack Crawford (Hitech) and Richard Verschoor (Van Amersfort Racing) in the seventh round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Crawford’s win came in the rain-affected Sprint race, as he got the better of Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) while third place went to Isack Hadjar (Hitech) after Clement Novalak (Trident) was disqualified.
Verschoor won the Feature Race and was joined on the podium by Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS) and Frederik Vesti (Prema Racing). Vesti thus consolidates his lead in the championship with 125 points, ahead of Theo Pourchaire (105) and Iwasa (101). 

Formula 3

The fifth round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship produced plenty of excitement, especially this morning’s race, partly down to tyre behaviour, which presented an additional challenge to the young drivers in the form of managing degradation. Prema Racing secured a clean sweep of wins, courtesy of Paul Aron in the Sprint Race, followed by Zak O’Sullivan in the Feature event. Brazil’s Caio Collet (Van Amersfoot Racing) made it to the podium in both races, while his fellow countryman Gabriel Bortoleto, second in today’s race, increased his lead in the classification. He is on 111, 36 ahead of Sweden’s Dino Beganovich (Prema Racing) on 75. The 32 points that O’Sullivan picked up today puts him third in the standings on 73, equal with Spain’s Josep Maria Marti.

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES

Next weekend, Formula 1 moves to Silverstone, one of the most historic venues on the calendar, having hosted 57 Grands Prix since 1950. The Silverstone track is one of the most demanding for tyres and for the British Grand Prix, from 7 to 9 July, teams will use the C1 compound as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as P Zero Red soft. Pirelli stays on at the Northamptonshire circuit on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 July for two days of testing slick tyres without the use of heating blankets. Taking part will be Red Bull, Haas and Williams.

THE DAY ON TRACK

• The Sprint Shootout saw Max Verstappen confirm his mastery of the flying lap, setting a best time of 1.04.440, a mere 49 thousandths of a second slower than the time with which he secured pole position for the Grand Prix yesterday. Verstappen was presented with the Pirelli Sprint Shootout Award, a variation of the iconic Pirelli podium cap, personalised in the colours of the Austrian flag, by the artist, Saiff Vasarhelyi.
• Before the start of Q1, the Sprint Shootout was declared to be a wet session by the FIA, even though the track surface was almost dry. The drivers thus had a completely free choice of what compound and which sets of tyres to use after the return of one set after FP1. Three drivers started the session on Intermediates, but immediately pitted to switch to slicks. Seven drivers used at least one set of new Mediums, (Hulkenberg used two), some in Q1 (Verstappen, Bottas, Russell, Magnussen), some in Q3 (Sainz, Stroll, Hulkenberg). In Q3, only four drivers, Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris and Ocon were able to set a time with new Softs.
• A wet track again for the Sprint Race, and as the field set off on the formation lap, only Valtteri Bottas had fitted Mediums on his Alfa Romeo, a decision he immediately regretted as he pitted to fit the same Intermediates as the rest of the field. In terms of tyre use, the 24 lap race provided a very interesting scenario as several strategies were adopted amongst the teams. 
• The leading group opted to keep the intermediates throughout, relying on the advantage they had built up in the early stages. As a dry line gradually emerged, those outside the points gambled on a switch to slicks. The bravest was George Russell (Mercedes) who pitted as early as lap 15 to switch to the Softs, a move which was repaid with the final point on offer after he had climbed up to eighth place. 
• Another strong showing today came from Nico Hulkenberg (Haas). Having started from fourth on the grid, the German was running second for a long time, before gradually dropping down the order. He pitted on lap 17 when lying sixth, but by now running at a less competitive pace, taking on a set of Mediums. He then managed to fight back to sixth, as well as setting the fastest lap of the Sprint Race. 

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR   

“It was a very interesting day, with the weather creating a mix of different situations and available options that often make Formula 1 racing more uncertain and spectacular. We had already seen this in the Sprint Shootout, but it was even more evident in the Sprint Race, in which so many positions changed in the closing stages. For example, if we look at the two Aston Martins that did all 24 laps on the Intermediates and Hulkenberg, who having started on Intermediates, switched to Mediums for the last seven laps, they finished only a second apart, showing that both choices were valid. To sum up, I think we can say that the Sprint format is really adding even more of a show to Formula 1.
From a tyre point of view, today has allowed us to carry out an even deeper analysis into the very important topic of the crossover point from wet weather tyres to dry ones. This afternoon that crossover point was at 112% of the reference time. Eleven drivers went for this strategy, while not all choosing the same compound, with five opting for the Medium and six the Soft. We have acquired a lot of data that will be very useful for us and also for the teams. 
As predicted, the rain played its part today, but tomorrow is expected to be dry with temperatures considerably higher than today, although not to the level we saw in FP1. With just one free practice session, there is not that much data available with which to produce an extensive analysis of tyre behaviour over a long run, but we think the Soft will not really be used, thus the choice comes down to the Medium and the Hard. On paper, the fastest strategy seems to be a two-stop, starting on the Medium, switching to Hard and then back to Medium. Or for those who have two sets of C3 available, another stint on the hardest tyre. The one-stop (Medium-Hard) could also be competitive, but looking at how last year’s race played out, it is a less attractive option than making two pit-stops.
Finally, on behalf of Pirelli, I would like to offer our condolences on the death of Dilano Van’t Hoff, who passed away this afternoon, following an accident in the European Championship Formula Regional race at Spa-Francorchamps. It is a tragedy, which once again reminds us that racing can sometimes be a cruel sport and the extent to which safety must always be an imperative for all those involved in motorsport.” 

“It was a very interesting race, the most closely balanced so far this season, as can be seen from the results sheet, with four drivers from four different teams all finishing in the space of under 20 seconds. Yesterday’s prediction that a two-stop strategy was the best option was confirmed as the top three all went down this route, even if they each managed it in different ways. However, the one stop proved to be a valid alternative, as demonstrated by the two Ferrari drivers: Leclerc and Sainz went to over half-distance on the Mediums without any significant degradation in terms of tyre performance, a sign that their car is making progress on the set-up front.

Temperatures were lower today than on Friday and that contributed to reducing the risk of overheating the tyres. Another factor that played an important role in tyre management was the fact the track rubbered-in very quickly during the race, even though it was initially very dirty after it had rained for almost all of Saturday.

Personally, it was an honour for me, on behalf of Pirelli, the race’s Title Sponsor, to hand over the winning constructors’ trophy to Adrian Newey, someone who has contributed so much to the history of this team and of our sport and indeed, who continues to do so, on the very day when Red Bull celebrated its 100^th win.”

THE RACE FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW

• Max Verstappen won the FORMULA 1 PIRELLI GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2023. It was his 41^st victory, which puts him level with Ayrton Senna in fifth place on the all-time winners list which is headed by Lewis Hamilton on 103.
• This was Red Bull’s 100^th win from 355 Grand Prix starts. Its first dates back to 19 April 2009 when Sebastian Vettel won in China. Red Bull is the fifth team to have reached a century of wins in a category headed by Ferrari (242), followed by McLaren (183), Mercedes (125) and Williams (114).
• Of the top ten finishers, six drivers stopped twice with only four making just the one stop. However, it is worth noting that Perez’s second pit stop, just two laps from the end was carried out purely to allow him to pick up the extra point for setting the fastest race lap.
• 16 drivers opted to start on the Mediums: three of the remaining four – Perez, Bottas and Magnussen – chose the Hard tyre, while only Gasly preferred to start on the Softs.
• As expected, the C5 was the least used compound in the race, completing just 12 laps: ten of those were in Gasly’s first stint and two with Perez at the end of the race.
• The most used compound was the C3 (70.4% of all laps completed) but a significant number of laps (28.7%) were run on the C4.
• In terms of stint length, the standout performance came from Albon, who is no stranger to this feat, running 58 laps on a set of Hards. He finished in an impressive seventh place. Leclerc drove the longest stint on Medium tyres doing 39 laps.

FERRARI CHALLENGE NORTH AMERICA

Apart from Formula 1, the Ferrari Challenge North America competitors were racing in Montreal. In Saturday’s race in the one-make series for which Pirelli is the sole tyre supplier, the overall winner was Martin Burrowes (Ferrari Quebec) who fought off the advances of Roberto Perrina (Ferrari of Seattle) and team-mate Carlos De Quesada. On Sunday, the top step of the podium was occupied by Matt Kurzejewsky (Ferrari Beverly Hills) while Perrina and De Quesada were again second and third.

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES

The next race takes place at the Red Bull Ring from 30 June to 2 July. The Austrian Grand Prix will be the second round of the season, after the one in Azerbaijan, to be run to the new F1 Sprint format. Qualifying for the main race takes place on Friday afternoon, while track action on Saturday is entirely given over to the Sprint. First, there’s the Sprint Shootout, with the short 24 lap race following later in the afternoon. In Spielberg, drivers will use the same compounds as in Montreal: the C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft. As with all F1 Sprint weekends, each driver will have just 12 sets of dry weather tyres available to them instead of 13. 

• The rain was the main story today, both in free practice and in qualifying.
• FP3 was held in the rain, which intensified towards the end of the session. The Ferrari drivers were the only ones to use Intermediates right from the start, rather than the Full Wets chosen by all the other teams for their first run out of the pits. The intermediates then gained in popularity after the first quarter of an hour, with Aston Martin the first team to make the switch.
• After about half an hour, the session was stopped when Carlos Sainz crashed at the first corner and it resumed at 13.07, once the run-off area had been cleared and the crash barriers repaired.
• The track was wet for the start of qualifying, even though it was hardly raining. The session was stopped almost immediately after Guanyu Zhou had to park his Alfa Romeo at the side of the track with a technical problem. At that point, only three drivers – his team-mate Valtteri Bottas and both Williams drivers – had set a time on the Intermediate tyres.
• The track began to dry out but in Q1 no drivers risked using slicks. The Intermediates worked well even as the track continued to get dryer, at least on the racing line, which meant several drivers were able to keep going for longer than the predicted crossover time for slicks.
• In Q2, Williams gambled by sending Alex Albon out on dry weather tyres right from his very first run and it paid off. The Thai-British driver struggled a bit compared to those on Intermediates for his first two laps, but then he found himself on the best suited tyres when the track itself was at its best – namely running the Softs at the right temperature and he thus managed to set the fastest time.
• All the other drivers did a first flying lap on Intermediates before switching to Softs, but by then, the rain was gaining in intensity and Albon’s time remained out of reach. Failing to make the cut out of this part of qualifying were several top team drivers, including Leclerc, Perez and Stroll.
• The third session really came down to just one run at the start, with all the drivers on Intermediates. Once again, Max Verstappen was quickest, thus securing his 25^th career pole position.
• The only driver who ever looked like challenging the Dutchman was Fernando Alonso, but a red flag brought out when Oscar Piastri crashed, prevented the Spaniard from completing his second flying lap by just a few seconds and the Aston Martin driver thus had to settle for third place.
• The surprise of the day came from Nico Hulkenberg, who was second fastest. This feat means that, for the very first time, the Haas team should have seen one of its cars start a Grand Prix from the front row. However, later on Saturday night, the German was penalised for failing to slow enough when the red flags were shown and thus he will start from fifth place on the grid.
• Jean Alesi presented Max Verstappen with the Pirelli Pole Position Award. The Frenchman who raced in Formula 1 from 1989 to 2001, took his only Grand Prix win here in Montreal on his birthday (11 June) in 1995, at the wheel of a Ferrari.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR       
 

“Yesterday’s weather forecast predicted rain for today and it proved to be accurate. It meant we could see both the Intermediate and the new Full Wet tyres in action, after we had got a taste of the latter towards the end of the Monaco Grand Prix. As for the Intermediates, we saw that their operating window is still very wide, given the competitive times set with them in Q1 when the track was practically dry. The Full Wet, which in this new specification does not require preheating, worked as expected without any evidence of temperature management issues right from the start of their use.

“Dry track conditions are expected tomorrow, but clearly all the rain that has fallen so far has effectively led to a degree of reset in terms of the track surface conditions. As for strategy, this could make a two stop race look even more competitive, starting with the Mediums and then switching to Hards for the next two stints. A one stop, starting on Hard and switching to Medium, could be the choice for those starting from the second half of the grid, as it would allow them to have greater flexibility to deal with any eventualities, especially on this track where the Safety Car has often been called on to do plenty of laps.”

The softest possible combination will be used in Montreal and Spielberg: C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. By contrast, the C1 will be the hard tyre at Silverstone, C2 the medium, and C3 the soft.

Montreal, the home of the Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix du Canada from June 16-18, has a medium to fast layout While the Gilles Villeneuve circuit can be considered as a semi-permanent circuit, it has unforgiving walls and barriers right next to the racing line, leaving little margin for error but also presenting at least two good overtaking opportunities. It’s a track where stability under braking and good traction are vital to be competitive. The Canadian Grand Prix is a perennial favourite; not just because it’s often unpredictable – with the safety car being a regular feature – but also because of Montreal’s unique atmosphere throughout the grand prix week,

Two weeks after Canada, the Austrian Grand Prix takes place on the rapid Spielberg circuit, which has the lowest number of corners of any venue on the calendar: just 10 in total. The Red Bull Ring hosts the second Sprint Race of the season on Saturday, preceded by the Sprint Shootout to determine its grid positions.

From July 7-9, Formula 1 returns to where the championship first began: Silverstone, which has a largely unaltered layout since the very first British Grand Prix in 1950. Pirelli’s new specification of tyre will make its debut on a track that is well-known for putting high lateral energy loads through the rubber, as a result of the many fast corners. This new specification, tried out by the teams during Friday free practice in Spain, is more resistant to fatigue thanks to the introduction of an already-homologated material originally planned for 2024, but is otherwise exactly the same as the specification that will be used up to the Austrian Grand Prix.

“On a track that is particularly demanding for the tyres, we witnessed a race in which all three available dry compounds came into play, each one used extensively. The C1 covered 41.6% of the laps completed, then came the C2 (30.6%) and the C3 (27.9%). The decision to introduce the new for 2023 C1 specification compound meant that a two-stop strategy was on the cards and was used by most of the teams. Compared with our pre-race predictions we saw that the Medium was more competitive, partly down to the track temperature being significantly lower than during last year’s race. Initial analysis suggests that degradation on all the compounds was lower, even with the softest C3. Notable examples of this were the first stints for the two Mercedes drivers with Russell doing 25 laps and Hamilton 24, or Alonso’s middle stint (25 laps) running a heavy fuel load and yet running at a pretty competitive pace.

It’s been a very busy weekend for Pirelli. Apart from F1 here in Barcelona, we were also working at all three car racing series in which we are the sole tyre supplier – in Sardinia with the WRC and in France at Paul Ricard with the GT World Challenge Europe. Additionally, there was our two-wheeled commitment and in Misano (Italy) we celebrated Pirelli’s 20^th anniversary as sole tyre supplier in the SBK Championship. Pirelli is staying in Barcelona with two days of very important testing this coming week aimed at next season. The programme is focused on the development of compounds that can be used without the usual pre-heating procedures.”

THE RACE FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW

• Max Verstappen continues on his winning way, victory in the Spanish Grand Prix being the Dutchman’s fifth from the seven races so far the season. It’s his 40^th career win.
• Proof of the reigning world champion’s dominance can be seen from the fact he secured the third Grand Slam of his career – the win, pole position, fastest race lap and leading for all laps. He did this previously in Spielberg in 2021 and Imola last year.
• The Mercedes drivers filled the other podium places. Lewis Hamilton who, along with Michael Schumacher has won six times in Barcelona, was second, followed by George Russell.
• Of all the cars that started from the grid, only Red Bull opted for anything other than the Soft tyre. Verstappen and Perez started on the P Zero Yellow medium. Logan Sargeant (Williams) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) started from pit lane, the former on Medium, the latter on P Zero White hard.
• It was hard to predict strategies for the Spanish Grand Prix, partly due to the low level of degradation on the compounds, as well as the chance of rain arriving, although that was ruled out after a few laps. The first four all took the chequered flag on Softs. The Red Bull pair went from Medium to Hard (Verstappen after 26 laps, Perez 23) while Mercedes opted for the Medium in the middle stint. Aston Martin went for Softs for the first two stints, doing the last on the hardest compound. Others to finish on the Hard tyre were the Ferrari, Alpine and Alfa Romeo drivers and Logan Sargeant (Williams).
• The Haas drivers were the only ones to pit three times. They started on Softs, switching to Mediums for the second stint, Hards for the third, finishing the race on Mediums again. Lando Norris also pitted three times, but the first time it was to change the front wing at the end of the opening lap.
• Fastest on the Hards was Alonso. Aston Martin’s Spaniard clocked a time of 1m18.083s on lap 49. Kevin Magnussen was quickest on Mediums in 1m18.069s, while Max Verstappen set the fastest race lap on Softs in 1m16.330s.
• In his second stint, Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) did more laps (34) than any other driver on the hardest compound. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) did 32 on the Medium tyre in his last stint. Leclerc, Alonso and Russell did 25 laps on the Soft.
• Track temperature dropped during the race. When the red lights went out, the track sensords recorded 30.9°C while at the end it was 26.7°C (the highest on the grid was 31.3°C).

Formula 2

Frederik Vesti won the Formula 2 Sprint Race in Montmelo. Prema Racing’s young Dane finished ahead of the ART Grand Prix duo of Theo Pourchaire and Victor Martins. Oliver Bearman (Prema Racing) took his third win of the season in the Feature Race. On Sunday, he was followed home by Enzo Fittipaldi (Rodin Carlin) and Victor Martins. The Pirelli-shod series is back in action in Austria for the seventh round of the season.

Formula 3

Zak O’Sullivan won the Formula 3 Sprint race in Barcelona. The Englishman, driving for the Prema team, finished ahead of his Williams Academy colleague Luke Browning (Hitech) while Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) was third. Victory in the Feature race went to Josep Maria Martì for Campos Racing. Joining him on the podium were Franco Colapinto (MP Motorsport) and Dino Beganovic (Prema). The next round of the Pirelli-shod championship takes place at Spielberg from 30 June to 2 July.

PIRELLI AROUND THE WORLD THIS WEEKEND

It has been a particularly busy weekend for Pirelli Motorsport, because apart from the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, with Formula 2 and 3 also taking place in Barcelona, there were rounds of three other championships for which the company is the sole tyre supplier. The World Rally Championship competitors were tackling the Rally Italia Sardegna at Olbia, round 2 of the GT World Challenge Europe took place at the Paul Ricard circuit and finally, Misano hosted the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna round of the FIM Superbike World Championship. This last event marked 20 years since the Milanese company became the sole supplier for all the Superbike classes.

World Rally Championship

Thierry Neuville has won the Rally Italia Sardegna for Hyundai at the end of a very exciting event. The teams had to rejig their pre-event strategy because of unexpected heavy rainfall. Esapekka Lappi made it a one-two for the Korean company, finishing 33 seconds behind his team-mate. Kalle Rovanpera was third for Toyota, 1m55.3s off the winner, allowing him to maintain his championship lead.

GT World Challenge Europe

The Paul Ricard 1000 km round of the GT World Challenge Europe was won by French team Akkodis ASP’s #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3. It worked its way up to the front in the closing stages, crewed by Raffaele Marciello, Jules Gounon e Timur Boguslavskiy. Another Mercedes, the #777 car run by the AIManar team of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller. Standing on the third step of the podium were Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Nicholas Yelloly with the Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3.

FIM Superbike World Championship

Race-1 of the FIM Superbike World Championship at the Misano World Circuit was won by Alvaro Bautista, while Michael Ruben Rinaldi made it a one-two finish for the Aruba.it Racing Ducati team. Toprak Razgatlioglu was third for Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSKB. Bautista again dominated race-2, this time followed across the line by Razgatlioglu and Axel Bassani for Motocorsa Racing. At this Pirelli Emilia-Romagna round at Misano, the fifth of the season, Pirelli celebrated 20 years as the sole tyre supplier for all classes of the World Championship.

NEXT UP FOR OUR F1 TYRES

Pirelli is staying on at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, for two days of testing for next season’s tyres with Ferrari and Mercedes running on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will be trying various compounds to be used without being preheated. The next round of the Formula 1 World Championship is the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, from 16 to 18 June.

“The Monaco weekend was filled with emotions, both for the people watching the race in person and those following it at home on TV and online. Just like a year ago, all five types of tyre brought to Monaco were used, with the new specification of wet tyre – which doesn’t require blankets – making its debut. First impressions of its performance seem in line with expectations, although you obviously can’t really compare Monaco with anywhere else. When it was dry, the race was a chess game between those who started on the mediums and those who opted for the hards: actually, a bigger number of drivers than we had anticipated heading into the race. Just one person, Guanyu Zhou, went for the softs at the start. As is often the case in Monaco, it was at first a question of seeing who made the best of the traffic to find the right time to make the decisive move and pit. But then there was the uncertain weather, with the rain that everybody knew was coming but nobody expected to be quite so heavy. All this added up to a race that was extremely difficult to manage without making mistakes. The first stint on the medium was much longer than expected: not only did Verstappen complete 55 laps on this compound, but both AlphaTauri drivers did 53 laps, while Lando Norris did 50. On this track in particular, tyre management, even with graining, had to be carried out according to traffic and weather conditions – as was definitely the case today.”

THE RACE FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Monaco Grand Prix with Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso in second. Esteban Ocon was third for Alpine. All the drivers on the podium took the chequered flag on the Cinturato Green intermediate. As was the case last year, all the compounds were used: three different types slick and two wets, including the new Cinturato Blue full wet.
• As usual in Monaco, qualifying was decisive for the race result, with the top three on the grid finishing in the same order. Charles Leclerc had originally qualified third, ahead of Ocon, but received a three-place grid penalty. 
• Verstappen and Ocon started on P Zero Yellow mediums with the intention of switching to the P Zero White hard for the finish. But after the rain came, Verstappen could move directly to the intermediate. Alonso also started on the hard compound, but pitted for mediums which he ran for just one lap before changing to intermediates. 
• Half the teams split their strategies for the start: Mercedes, Alpine, McLaren, Alfa Romeo, and Haas all fitted their two cars with different compounds. The only driver to start on the P Zero Red soft was Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), who stopped after just one lap to fit the hard tyres, as did Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull).
• Rain started to fall about 25 laps before the end of the race, initially between turns 4 and 8. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) was first to fit the intermediate and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) was last to visit the pits for rain tyres, swapping the hards for the full wet.
• The new Cinturato Blue Full Wet tyre, which had been due to make its debut at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, was used by the two Haas drivers and Perez. It is the first Pirelli Formula 1 tyre that does not require the use of tyre warmers.
• Bottas had the fastest time on the intermediates, setting a 1m24.637s on lap 76. Hulkenberg set the best time with the full wet tyres of 1m32.994s on lap 72. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) did the overall fastest lap of the race (1m15.650s) on lap 33 when he was on the hard tyres while the best performance on mediums came from Leclerc (1m15.773s) on lap 46. Magnussen had the longest stint, using the hard for 56 laps.
• The rain caused the asphalt temperatures to drop sharply from 41°C to 27°C while the ambient temperature fluctuated between 28 and 23°C.

DTM

The first round of the DTM championship, supplied by Pirelli, concluded at Oschersleben on Sunday. On Saturday Franck Perera (SSR Performance) gave Lamborghini victory, winning race one in his Huracan Evo2 ahead of the Porsche 911 R of Tim Heinemann (Toksport WRT) and the Ferrari 296 of Jack Aitken (Emil Frey). There was an all-Porsche podium in race two today, with Christian Engelhardt and Heinemann scoring a one-two for Toksport ahead of poleman Thomas Preining (Manthey Ema).

What's next?

Next week Formula 1 will travel to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix (2-4 June). The P Zero White hard will be the C1 tyre, the P Zero Yellow medium the C2, and the P Zero Red soft the C3. The circuit has been modified for this year with the removal of the final chicane, making it more fast and flowing.

• Max Verstappen took pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, thanks to an extraordinary lap at the end of Q3, achieved by touching the crash barriers twice. The Red Bull driver set pole with a time of 1m11.365s on a fresh set of P Zero Red softs. On the Principality's street circuit, Fernando Alonso shone with a time of 1m11.449s, which will allow him to start from second on the grid tomorrow. Third fastest was local hero Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in 1m11.471s. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), will instead start from the back of the grid: a trip into the barriers at the first corner put him out of action in Q1.
• FP3 was marked by a Virtual Safety Car caused by Lewis Hamilton heading into the barriers at Mirabeau, which caused the session to end early. The two Red Bulls dominated: Max Verstappen stopped the clock with a 1m12.776s while Sergio Perez set a time of 1m12.849s. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) set his fastest lap in 1m12.942s. All three used a fresh set of softs.
• Temperatures reached almost 29 degrees today during the final free practice session. The sensors on the asphalt during qualifying instead detected temperatures between 41 and 47°C. Temperatures in qualifying, which took place at 4pm, were essentially stable. Good weather is expected all day tomorrow, with partially cloudy skies during the race. The chances of rain are now reduced to 20%.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Max Verstappen by Maria Sharapova. The former tennis player, now an entrepreneur, has won five Grand Slam tournaments and was for 21 weeks in the first position of the world singles ranking. Maria is one of the few players in tennis history to have completed the Career Grand Slam, i.e. having won all four Grand Slam tournaments (Melbourne, Paris, Wimbledon, and Flushing Meadows).

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

On a track where overtaking is almost impossible, the fastest strategy for the Grand Prix involves a single stop, as soon as possible throughout the 78 scheduled laps. On paper, the drivers should fit the P Zero Yellow medium on the grid and change them between the twentieth and twenty-fifth laps for the hard P Zero Whites to be the fastest. Another possibility is given by the start on the Soft and then change for hard tyres between laps 15 and 20, with the possibility of doing the reverse too.

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR      
 

“We witnessed one of the most spectacular and unpredictable qualifying sessions in the recent history of Formula 1 today in Monte-Carlo, which was closely fought from the first to the last minute. We already saw yesterday that the gaps on this track would be very small, and this was confirmed again this afternoon. In Q1, the top 15 riders were within 0.652s, while in Q2 there was a 0.469s gap between first and 10th. In Q3, we had the top four drivers, with four different teams, separated by 0.188s. Congratulations to all the drivers on track today, who put on a great show at the absolute limit.   
From a technical point of view, we confirmed the versatility of the soft compound, which made it possible to do several flying laps with cool-down laps in between. The track evolved significantly throughout the day and during each session, which added even more uncertainty. Usually one of the highlights of the Monaco Grand Prix is Saturday but after today we can't wait to find out what comes next.  
We don’t expect many strategic surprises: a single stop is the way to go, with the hard tyre as the main choice. However, which tyre to start the race on is more uncertain: the soft tyre certainly offers more grip at the start, but the medium has a wider window of use, with a better chance to make the most of any safety cars.”

GRACE INFLUENTIAL POSITIVE IMPACT AWARD   
 

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team won the first Grace Influential Positive Impact Award: the recognition established by the Princess Grace Foundation to reward the social and environmental sustainability projects carried out by the Formula 1 team. Pirelli, a partner in the initiative, hosted the candidates in their hospitality in the Monte-Carlo paddock. The event was organized in collaboration with Ferrari Trento and dedicated to the celebration of the numerous activities carried out by the championship teams over the past year. The winner was the "Accelerate 25" program, which aims to recruit at least 25% of employees from under-represented groups in Formula 1 among the workforce of the Mercedes team by 2025. The team received a trophy made by the artist Dale Chihuly.

FUNDRAISING FOR EMILIA-ROMAGNA   
 

The Pirelli Pole Position Award that should have been presented to the poleman of the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was auctioned off with other memorabilia to raise funds in support of the Territorial Security and Civil Protection Agency of Emilia-Romagna. The initiative, organized by Formula 1, Pirelli, Ferrari Trento, Automobile Club d'Italia, and Formula Imola with the support of Memento Exclusives, will allow fans to win a reproduction of the tire signed for the occasion by all Formula 1 drivers, on the f1authentics.com website. Offers may also be done for the bottle of Ferrari Trento that should have been opened by the winner of the Grand Prix and the four trophies on the podium.

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won his second consecutive Miami Grand Prix, ahead of his team mate Sergio Perez who started from pole. Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso, who had got underway from P2 on the grid, completed the podium. Perez and Alonso started the race on P Zero Yellow medium tyres, swapping them for P Zero White hard on laps 20 and 24 respectively. Verstappen started on the hard and managed to get into the lead before stopping on lap 45. He completed the final 12 laps on the medium, passing his team mate a couple of corners into his out-lap, to reclaim the lead.
• All the teams adopted a one-stop strategy but seven of them split the strategies between their drivers by starting on different compounds. Ferrari and Williams decided to start both their drivers on the mediums, while McLaren was the only team to take the soft at the start, hoping to make an early stop to comply with the regulation to use two slick compounds during the race.
• Williams driver Logan Sargeant completed the most laps on the hard. He put them on during lap two and maintained them all the way to the finish: a total of 54 laps. Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou completed the most laps (26) on the medium, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was the most prolific exponent on the soft for five laps at the start.
• Around halfway through the race, all the drivers were on the hard for seven laps. Among the drivers who started the race on the medium and soft, the last driver to make a stop was Alonso on lap 24. The first driver to switch from hard to medium was Zhou on lap 31.
• Alonso set the fastest lap on the hard tyre (1m30.519s) while Verstappen set the fastest lap overall with a time of  1m29.708s on the medium. Lando Norris set the best time of the two drivers on the soft: 1m33.869s.
• After overnight rain, the weather was cloudy for today’s race with temperatures that peaked at 30 degrees centigrade, while asphalt temperatures remained between 35 and 43 degrees.

FORMULA 1 ACADEMY

The second Formula 1 Academy race took place this weekend at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain. MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi won the first race, while Prema Racing won the second two races, with Bianca Bustamante and then Marta Garcia. The next round of the new series takes place from 18 to 20 May at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona.

What's next?

The next round of the Formula 1 World Championship will be the Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia Romagna at Imola from 19 to 21 May: the first European race of the season. The new Alternative Tyre Allocation regulations will be tried out during qualifying, with each session to be run exclusively on hard, medium, and soft. The new Cinturato Blue Full Wet tyres, which do not use tyre blankets, will also make their debut. The Monaco Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix then takes place during the following two weekends.

• Red Bull’s Sergio Perez claimed pole for the Miami Grand Prix with a time of 1m26.841s on a new set of P Zero Red soft tyres: a benchmark that was nearly two seconds faster than last year’s pole time. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was three-tenths slower in second, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third on a 1m27.349s, ahead of Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. Alonso and Magnussen set their best times on a used set of softs.
• Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who claimed pole in Miami last year, lost control of his car in the closing minutes of Q3 and hit the Turn 7 barriers: the same part of the track where he had a problem in FP2 yesterday. The session consequently finished early, as there was no longer enough time for the other nine competitors on track to set a flying lap.
• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the fastest driver on track today, even though he will start tomorrow’s race from ninth place on the grid. The reigning world champion set the best time of the day in Q2: 1m26.814s. Verstappen was also fastest in FP3 today with a time of 1m27.535s: 0.406s quicker than Leclerc in second, while Perez was third on a 1m28.050s. The teams mainly ran using the soft tyre in FP3, with grip consistently improving.
• The C4 proved strong performance even after several laps on the smooth asphalt of the Miami Autodrome.
• In FP3 (from 12:30 to 13:30) track temperatures peaked at 54 degrees centigrade with 33 degrees ambient. Conditions were cooler later in the afternoon with a minimum track temperature of 39 degrees, while ambient temperatures varied only by a few degrees.
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was given to Perez by DJ Tiësto. The electronic dance music producer and Grammy Award winner was classified at the head of the ‘Top 100 DJs’ ranking by DJ magazine for three consecutive years. His latest album is called ‘Drive’.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

As was the case last year, the fastest race strategy is a one-stopper, starting on P Zero Yellow medium and switching to P Zero White hard between laps 12 and 20. A two-stopper is also worth considering: starting on the medium, switching to hard between laps 10 and 16, and finishing on the soft from laps 35 to 43. An alternative could be with the soft for the last 11 to 16 laps of the race. The teams will have to consider the strong possibility of a safety car, given that the last Miami Grand Prix was stopped twice as well as the weather. with a high chance of rain also during the race tomorrow.

The new season of Pirelli Hot Laps got underway in Miami, allowing lucky guests to experience the performance of P Zero tyres from the passenger seat of supercars driven by top motorsport stars on selected Formula 1 tracks. The research and development invested into Formula 1 tyres eventually find their way onto the road thanks to Pirelli’s renowned ‘race to road’ philosophy. The drivers involved in the Miami Hot Laps programme included Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Valtteri Bottas, Guanyu Zhou, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Cars used for hot laps on the Miami Autodrome were: McLaren Artura, Mercedes-AMG GT R, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Aston Martin DBX707 and Aston Martin Vantage F1.

THE RACE FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW

• Sergio Perez led a Red Bull one-two at the Baku street circuit for the second consecutive year, followed home by his team mate Max Verstappen. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, on pole for the third consecutive year following Friday’s qualifying, finished third to secure his team’s first podium of the year.
• The strategies were influenced by a safety car in the early stages of the race. The majority of drivers, including the podium finishers, swapped from medium to hard tyres between laps nine and 11. Nearly every driver took the flag on the hard tyre, setting personal best laps in the closing minutes as the tyres and times got faster, despite the long stints.
• The reliability of the hard tyre in Baku was underlined by Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Both started from the pit lane with a new set of hards and then finished the race on the P Zero Red soft, changing tyres with just two laps and one lap to go respectively. The Frenchman completed 50 laps – practically the entire race distance – on the same set of hard tyres.
• The fastest lap on the hard tyre was set by Verstappen (1m44.232s) while the fastest time on the medium came from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m46.304s), who also completed the longest stint on this compound at 16 laps. The fastest overall race lap was set by Mercedes driver George Russell on the final lap, after switching to the soft tyre one lap earlier to hunt down an additional championship point. 
• There was just one neutralisation, on lap 11, after De Vries touched the wall and brought out a safety car. Some drivers had previously tried an undercut by stopping early, including Verstappen who switched tyres just seconds before the decision to send out the safety car was made. Most teams used the safety car to make a pit stop with both drivers.
• Just three drivers selected the hard at the start: De Vries (from last on the grid) as well as Ocon and Hulkenberg. Ocon, Hulkenberg and Russell were the only drivers to run the soft in the race.
• Bottas made several visits to the pit lane. Starting on medium, he switched to hard on lap six and then stopped again for another set of hards under the safety car. With 16 laps to go he switched to the medium – the only driver to finish the race on that compound.
• Temperatures were similar to Saturday at around 25 to 28 degrees centigrade ambient, with track temperature peaking at 44 degrees shortly after the start. 

What's next?

Next weekend Formula 1 will be in Miami from May 5-7. This will be the first back to back race on the calendar, with a particular challenge coming from the eight-hour time difference between Azerbaijan and Florida. Miami will be the first of three American races in 2023, with F1 also visiting Austin in October and Las Vegas in November.

• Red Bull driver Sergio Perez won the first F1 Sprint of the year at Baku, using the P Zero Yellow medium tyre. The Mexican started from P2 on the grid and managed to get past poleman Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) following a Safety Car preceded by a Virtual Safety Car, which was caused by on-track debris as a result of an incident involving AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. The other Red Bull of Max Verstappen finished third. Perez continued his successful form in Baku, adding to his total of four podiums in seven grands prix (one win, one second place, and two third places).
• Leclerc set the fastest lap in the new Sprint Shootout this morning – 1m41.697s – that determined the grid for the F1 Sprint in the afternoon. The Ferrari driver underlined his recent supremacy over a flying lap in Baku, having already taken three consecutive pole positions from five qualifying sessions there. Perez and Verstappen were second and third, 0.147s and 0.290s behind respectively. Mercedes driver George Russell was fourth with a time of 1m42.252s. The SQ1 session was interrupted a few seconds from the end by Williams driver Logan Sergeant impacting the wall. Leclerc also didn’t complete his final SQ3 run after brushing the barriers in Turn 5, which additionally compromised his team mate Carlos Sainz’s flying lap.
• McLaren driver Lando Norris and Tsunoda were the only two drivers not to keep a new set of soft tyres after Friday’s sessions. The Englishman ended SQ2 with the 10^th fastest time and so could have taken part in the final Sprint Shootout but was unable to participate as he didn't have a new set of softs available, as required by the regulations.
• All the drivers used the medium tyre to start the F1 Sprint race, with the exception of Norris on used softs and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas on new softs. Norris and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon were the only drivers to change tyres during the F1 Sprint.
• Weather conditions for today’s race were similar to qualifying. Between the Sprint Shootout and F1 Sprint, track temperature dropped by 10 degrees centigrade from a peak of 48 degrees in the morning.
• Leclerc claimed the Pirelli Sprint Shootout Award for his P1 on today’s grid. The Monegasque received a Pirelli cap personalised by artist Saiff Vasarhelyi in the colours of the Azeri flag. The cap forms part of a capsule collection from Pirelli’s new merchandise range, as a variant of the iconic podium cap.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

A one-stopper should be the quickest strategy according to simulations, starting on the medium before stopping for the P Zero White hard between laps 13 and 18. A slower alternative is to start on soft and then switch to hard between laps eight and 13. Drivers opting for this strategy will have to manage the hard compound carefully, considering the chance of warmer temperatures tomorrow.

Any two-stopper, which is slower on paper but may end up being used if the race is neutralised at any point, would optimally entail starting on the medium. The first option is to change to the medium again between laps 10 and 15, followed by a final stint on hard between laps 25 and 30. To swap to hard at the first stop already, this needs to be brought forward to between laps eight and 13, with the second stop coming between laps 27 and 33.

F1 ACADEMY

The first event of the new F1 Academy celebrated three different winners from the first three races that took place at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Prema Racing’s Marta Garcia won the first and third races, while Hamda Al Qubaisi (MP Motorsport) won the second race. In Race 1, the podium was completed by Bianca Bustamante (Prema Racing) and Jessica Edgar (Rodin Carlin). Léna Bühler (ART Grand Prix) was second in Race 2, ahead of Lola Lovinfosse (Campos Racing). Hamda Al Qubaisi was runner-up in Race 3, ahead of her sister Amna in third.

As usual, the softest compounds in the range have been selected for Monaco. The tyres are not subjected to a lot of stress at the famous Monte Carlo street circuit as the lap is slower than at any other track and the asphalt is not particularly abrasive. On the contrary, the roads are opened to public traffic each evening, which means that the track does not rubber in as usual. As a result, the drivers have to rely heavily on aerodynamic grip, running the highest downforce levels seen all year.

The Circuit de Catalunya is another well-established venue, having hosted the Spanish Grand Prix since 1991 without interruption. This year the track returns to its former layout, with the removal of the final chicane and a consequent reduction in the overall lap length, which now comes down to 4.657 kilometres.

This alteration makes the final sector a lot more flowing and less severe for the tyres in terms of traction but puts them under greater lateral stress during the final two fast corners (which are now known as Turns 14 and 15) after already coming under heavy load earlier during the lap, in places like Turns 3 and 9. Asphalt temperature will be an important factor in terms of degradation, with track temperatures reaching 50 degrees centigrade last year despite the race being held a few weeks earlier.

As such, Pirelli has selected the C1, C2, and C3 as hard, medium, and soft. Although this is the same selection as last year on the face of it, in reality the 2023 C1 is a brand new compound that made a successful debut in Bahrain (with this year’s hardest available compound being the C0).

For the upcoming grands prix in Azerbaijan (April 28-30) and Miami (5-7 May), Pirelli has nominated the same three compounds used for these races last year. At Imola (19-21 May) the nominations will be softer then those made for 2022.

On the Baku street circuit, the teams will have at their disposal the C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. This is the softest trio of compounds in Pirelli’s range, which are well suited to the tight corners on this city circuit as well as the long straights where the cars reach a maximum speed of 340kph. The most common strategy for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is a one-stopper, although some teams stopped twice last year to take advantage of a virtual safety car before the chequered flag. The race was held at the beginning of June in 2022, with thermal degradation becoming a factor due to the high asphalt temperature.

For Miami, Pirelli has nominated three compounds in the middle of the range, with C2 as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow medium and C4 as P Zero Red soft. The focus is on versatility for this street track run around the Hard Rock Stadium, which takes in 19 corners as well as three long straights. The race can be completed by  stopping only once, as a number of drivers demonstrated last year with good management of an opening stint on the medium tyre, even though a two-stopper is quicker on paper. The weather in Florida is a constant variable, with the risk of wind and rain another factor to consider.

For the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, softer tyres have been chosen due to the low severity of the circuit and the contained wear seen on the tyres last year. The C3 is the P Zero White hard, C4 is P Zero Yellow medium and C5 is P Zero Red soft. A new qualifying format will also be run at Imola, with just one compound used in each session. In Q1 only the hard will be available, Q2 will use only the medium, while the soft is just for Q3. This “Alternative Tyre Allocation”, which will also be used at another race weekend this year after Imola, reduces the total tyre allocation for each car from 13 sets to 11 per weekend. The new Cinturato Blue Full Wet, the first Pirelli rain tyres that don’t need tyre blankets, will also make their debut at the opening Italian race of the year.

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Australian Grand Prix for the first time in his career. In an action-packed race, the reigning world champion led two other world champions past the chequered flag: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. All the podium finishers ended the race on the P Zero Red soft, following a tyre change one lap from the finish.
• The Australian Grand Prix was interrupted by three safety car periods and three red flag periods, including a red flag just a lap from the finish, leading to two standing starts and a final rolling start. The virtual safety car also made an appearance, due to a car stopped on the exit of the pitlane. 
• The race strategies were largely influenced by the frequent safety car periods and other race interruptions. The top three started on the P Zero Yellow medium and then went onto the P Zero White hard at the first neutralisation. The last three laps were instead run on two different sets of soft tyres.
• A total of 10 drivers completed the longest stint on the hard tyre, covering 47 laps on this compound, including all three podium finishers. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon kept the same set of hard tyres that he had fitted on lap one without changing them during the first red flag period, completing 54 laps on the same tyres. Alfa Romeo drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyou Zhou, also used the same set of hard tyres for more than 50 laps. 
• AlphaTauri’s Nyck De Vries was instead the driver to complete the most consecutive laps on the two other available compounds: 37 on the medium and nine on the soft.
• Red Bull’s Sergio Perez set the fastest lap of the race, using the hard tyre (1m20.235s), and was also one of the drivers to complete the longest stint on this compound. Alonso and De Vries were instead fastest on the medium and soft tyres, setting times of 1m22.603s and 1m21.183s on these compounds respectively.

What's next?

After a very intense start with three races in one month, there’s now a brief pause for the FIA Formula One World Championship. Next up is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, from April 28 to 30, supported also by Formula 2. Just one week after that comes the first of three American races this year, with Miami hosting its grand prix around the Hard Rock stadium for the second year.

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has claimed pole position for the Australian Grand Prix with a best time in qualifying of 1m16.732s. He was followed by the two Mercedes drivers: George Russell on a 1m16.968s leading his team mate Lewis Hamilton, who set a 1m17.104s. All three drivers used a new set of P Zero Red soft tyres to set their best times. The Q1 session was interrupted by a red flag after Sergio Perez got his Red Bull stuck in a gravel trap. The eventual pole time was more than a second quicker than last year.
• Verstappen was additionally fastest in FP3, with a time of 1m17.565s. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon were second and third, setting times of 1m17.727s and 1m17.938s respectively. The FP3 session was also interrupted by a red flag for debris on track halfway through the hour, with rain beginning to fall five minutes from the end. As a result, not all teams managed to complete their long runs or qualifying simulations.
• There was a threat of rain all day but it stayed dry throughout qualifying – with some rain in the last few minutes of FP3. Ambient temperatures remained between 15 and 17 degrees centigrade all day, with asphalt temperatures ranging from 20 to 24 degrees
• The Pirelli Pole Position Award was handed to Verstappen by Celeste Barber, known as Australia’s ‘queen of comedy’. Barber is an actress, writer, and influencer with more than 9.5 million Instagram followers, and she stars in the Netflix Wellmania series: among the most-viewed in recent weeks.

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

A one-stop strategy is quickest on paper for the Australian Grand Prix. Based on simulation data gathered up to now, the best way would be to start on the P Zero Yellow medium and change to P Zero White hard between laps 17 and 23. Slightly slower is starting on soft and then switching to hard between laps 15 and 21. A two-stopper is also possible, using all three compounds, albeit not as quick as stopping just once. In which case, the fastest tactic would be to start on soft, switch to hard between laps 10 and 15, and then go onto medium between laps 38 and 45 for the final run to the flag. Unlike last year, the softest tyre available this weekend (the C4, as opposed to the C5 in 2022) plays a potential role in race strategy. 

• Red Bull sealed its second one-two of the season in Jeddah, with Sergio Perez winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ahead of his team mate Max Verstappen. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso followed the Dutchman and was third. All the drivers on the podium used P Zero White hard C2 tyres for their final stints.
• The night race took place with asphalt temperatures between 29 and 31°C, while ambient temperature remained consistent at 26°C: lower values than those previously seen in FP2 and qualifying.
• The three podium finishers used identical strategies, making their pit stops on the same lap. Perez, Verstappen, and Alonso all swapped from their P Zero Yellow medium C3 starting tyres to the hard tyre on lap 18, under the safety car.
• Only four drivers, all from different teams, chose to start on a tyre other than the medium. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris both selected the P Zero Red soft C4, while Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Logan Sargeant (Williams) went for the hard.
• Max Verstappen set the fastest lap on the hard tyre (1m31.906s) while Lewis Hamilton was the driver who covered most laps on the medium: 32. Hamilton also set the fastest lap for the medium compound, 1m32.941s. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas established the quickest benchmark for the soft compound, which was a 1m34.384s.
• No fewer than seven drivers set their best lap times of the race on the final lap, with the hard tyre. These included Verstappen – who also set the overall fastest lap, giving himself the extra point that allowed him to stay in the lead of the championship – as well as Alonso and Russell, fighting hard for the final podium place.

BEST OF THE REST: THE ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY 

Most team strategies were quite similar. A total of 16 drivers started the race on the medium, as predicted by Pirelli’s simulations. Of those, only the two Alfa Romeo drivers didn’t finish the race on the hard. Bottas did three pit stops, going onto the hard and then the mediums again on lap 17, before fitting the soft 15 laps from the end. Guanyu Zhou stopped before the others and then stopped again during the safety car period to go from hard to medium.
Hamilton and Sargeant finished the race on mediums as they were the only drivers to start on hards. Leclerc and Norris chose a different strategy, beginning the race on the soft and ending it on the hard. Norris was forced to stop just two laps into the race and then went onto the mediums under the safety car, keeping them on until the flag. 

What's next?

The next race will the Australian Grand Prix from March 31 to April 2. The race will start at 08:00 in Europe, which is 15:00 local time in Melbourne. The compounds nominated for Albert Park are the same as those seen in Saudi Arabia: C2 as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow medium and C4 as P Zero Red soft. Formula 2 will run in Melbourne, as well as Formula 3 for the first time: both championships exclusively equipped by Pirelli.