THE DAY ON TRACK

After the last two rounds were run to the Sprint format, Imola marks a return to the classic scenario with Friday given over to two hours of free practice. The work the teams need to do in relation to the tyres is therefore based on a rather standard programme, especially in the second session where all the drivers began by finishing off their set-up work on the Medium or Hard tyres, before switching to the Softs for a qualifying simulation. They then ended with some long runs on full fuel loads, using mainly the Medium and the Hard. The C4 saw the most use (271 laps) while there was an equal split of the remaining laps between the C3 (149) and C5 (151).

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER

“With five minutes of track time lost through the only red flag of the day, that left 115 action packed minutes at Imola on one of the truly classic tracks on the calendar. We brought our three softest compounds here, based on an assessment of what we saw in the race in 2022, when the C2 was hardly used, because we believe this choice could give the teams a wider range of strategy options, even if this race usually entails just a single pit stop.

Predictably, especially after yesterday’s heavy rain, in the first session, the track was still quite “green” and the grip level from the asphalt rapidly increased as the cars did more and more laps. This rapid track evolution continued in the second session, although less so. The wind caused some disturbance, especially in FP1 with temperatures remaining reasonably stable around 27/28 °C for the ambient, while the track went from an average of 50 °C in the first session to 39 °C in the second, conditions which we could see in Sunday’s race.

The Medium and Hard tyres proved very competitive in terms of performance over a long run, while the Soft, especially in very high temperatures, could turn out to be quite tricky to manage over a large number of laps. The performance difference over a lap between each of the compounds is around half a second. From what we could see, some teams have not yet found the best way to get the most out of the C5 on a flying lap, while the C4 suffered with a very small amount of graining on the right side, especially the front tyre.”

FORMULA 2

Last year’s Formula 3 champion Gabriel Bortoleto will start Sunday’s Feature Race of the fourth round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship from pole position. The Brazilian, sporting a helmet with a design in memory of Ayrton Senna set the fastest time of 1’27”056. The Invicta Racing driver finished ahead of Oliver Bearman (Prema Racing, 1’27”111) and Isack Hadjar (Campos Racing, 1’27”272). For this first round in Italy, Pirelli has chosen the P Zero Yello medium and P Zero Purple supersoft compounds, the same selection that would have been used for the 2023 event which had to be cancelled last May because of the floods that hit the Emilia-Romagna region.

FORMULA 3

It was a Trident 1-2-3 in qualifying for the third round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Pole position went to Mexico’s Santiago Ramos (1’31”767) ahead of Italy’s Leonardo Fornaroli (1’31”820) and Frenchman Sami Meguetonif (1’32”019). The first Formula 3 round to be held in Europe takes place on a classic track with several changes of elevation. The Imola track does not exert high forces on the tyres but, despite the track surface being very old and smooth, tyre degradation can be an important factor, especially as the temperatures could be quite high. The Italian event is a good test for the young drivers because the track is narrow and it is not easy to overtake, on top of which there is only one DRS zone. Pirelli’s tyre choice, the P Zero Yellow medium compound, is the same as the one that would have been used last year when the event had to be cancelled because of bad weather in the Emilia-Romagna region.

Joining Verstappen on the front row of the grid will be the blue-tinged Ferrari of Charles Leclerc (1’27”749), the Monegasque having played virtually no part in free practice as he spun and was unable to resume, bringing out the only red flag of the day.

THE DAY ON TRACK 
 

The only free practice session of the weekend initially saw the two hardest compounds chosen for this event much in evidence, the C3 (Medium) and C2 (Hard). Red Bull and Mercedes and Zhou in the Sauber focused on the yellow-banded tyre while nearly all the other teams went for the white-banded one: the only exceptions were Sargeant (Williams) and the Racing Bulls drivers, who went for quite long runs on both the Hard and Medium tyres. Towards the end of the session, almost all the drivers also opted to assess the C4’s behaviour, with only Alonso, Sargeant, Ricciardo and Tsunoda not going down this route.

Max Verstappen was presented with the Pirelli Sprint Qualifying Award by James White, a lucky American fan chosen by the Miami Grand Prix promoter, for this amazing experience. Handmade in Italy, the trophy consists of a square of FSC™️certified natural rubber, enclosed between two pieces of glass on which is etched the layout of the Miami International Autodrome and the FSC™️ logo, a stylised tree. The same rubber is part of the raw materials used in the manufacture of all the Pirelli P Zero Formula 1 tyres, complying with the environmental and social sustainability criteria defined by the forestry management non-governmental organisation.

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER   
 

“The Friday of a Sprint weekend is really busy and it was even more so here in Miami, where the very hot conditions, with track temperature exceeding 55 °C, made life tough for the drivers, the cars and the tyres. Very predictably, marked track evolution was a feature of the start of the day, with lap times coming down very quickly. This also affected the long runs because, generally, the times improved despite the thermal degradation being quite significant. From what we could see looking at the sets that had done the most laps, there were no signs of graining.

Sprint Qualifying proved to be rather unusual. While the track continued to evolve significantly for the first half, as from the end of SQ2, it was clear the times were not coming down or were even getting slower. This phenomenon became even more marked in SQ3 when the usual improvement going from the Medium to Soft was negligible or at least not significant, while usually the step in terms of lap time is usually quite marked. We will have to study the data carefully over the next few hours to try and understand why.

“As for tomorrow’s Sprint Race, clearly the Medium is the most suitable tyre to complete the 19 laps. However, I don’t feel able to rule out the Soft completely, as it could provide a significant grip advantage in the first few laps. However, with such a competitive field, maybe those starting further back might try to go this route especially to check its performance with an eye on its potential use in the first part of Sunday’s race. It could be a way of making up places off the line, before then managing the situation, perhaps holding position if a train of cars develops.”

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 one and only free practice session of the weekend saw a fairly even use of all three dry compounds chosen by Pirelli for this event. The most used was the C4 Soft, completing 169 of the total 453 laps (37.3%), followed by the C2 Hard (158 laps, 34.9%) and the C3 Medium (126 laps, 27.8%). The first two parts of Sprint Qualifying were run in the dry and, as per the regulations, only the Medium could be used, while in the third, which the FIA officially declared as wet, thus allowing a free choice of tyre, all ten drivers opted for the Intermediate tyre. It’s worth noting that, as per the Sporting Regulations, those who make it to Q3 can take a new set of Intermediates after giving back a used one.

Lando Norris received the Pirelli Sprint Qualifying Award from Qiu Xin, a lucky Chinese fan, chosen through a competition run over the past few weeks on Weibo. Handmade in Italy, the trophy consists of a square of FSC™certified natural rubber, enclosed between two pieces of glass on which is etched the layout of the Shanghai International Circuit and the FSC™ logo, a stylised tree. The same rubber is part of the raw materials used in the manufacture of all the Pirelli P Zero Formula 1 tyres, complying with the environmental and social sustainability criteria defined by the forestry management non-governmental organisation.

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER   
 

“It was a very interesting day for the spectators as well as for everyone working in the sport. With the weather changing considerably over the course of the day, we saw four of the five types of tyre available to the teams this weekend coming into play. With regard to the slicks, an initial analysis suggests that all three compounds could play their part over the rest of the weekend. The Medium is clearly destined to be used in both tomorrow morning’s Sprint Race and Sunday’s Grand Prix, with the Soft possibly a valid option for the Sprint, especially if it is held in cooler conditions than this morning’s free practice and logically, the Hard is more likely to see use in Sunday’s race.

“In general, track conditions changed very quickly over the course of the day. Contrary to expectations, we did not see any graining today, while with the dry compounds we saw quite significant degradation, but it is too early to have a clear idea regarding strategies. The Sprint Race will be a great test session to check tyre behaviour over a long stint.

“The rain in Q3 meant we were able to see what the Intermediate could do in a very closely contested scenario and it behaved pretty well despite the unusual Shanghai asphalt. In fact, the additional layer of bitumen put down in recent months has rendered the track even more slippery in wet conditions, putting the drivers’ skills to the test. The result was a truly spectacular session which I think everyone found entertaining, including the drivers themselves!”

The programme was split into two parts, with one car reserved for young drivers to gain Formula 1 experience, while the regular race drivers ran the other car in a tyre test. As next year’s compounds will be identical to this year’s, the second part of the test was mainly an opportunity to optimise the car-tyre package. All the information gained, thanks also to extra sensors fitted compared to a usual race weekend, will be shared with Pirelli.

A total of 11 young drivers took to the track, with Williams being the only team to run two of them. Italo-Argentinean driver Franco Colapinto, fourth in Formula 3 this year, drove in the morning before handing the car over to Britain’s Zak O’Sullivan. Many of the young drivers in action today also took part in last Friday’s FP1 – such as Robert Shwartzman for Ferrari, Frederik Vesti for Mercedes, newly-crowned Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire with Alfa Romeo, Felipe Drugovich for Aston Martin, Jack Doohan with Alpine, and Pato O’Ward for McLaren – as well as O’Sullivan.

Among the regular drivers on track were George Russell (Mercedes), Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), as well as Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant (Williams). Haas didn’t run either of its 2023 race drivers but instead opted for reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi (who can’t be classified as a rookie as he has already driven two grands prix, on both occasions for Haas).

The overall fastest time of 1’24’’393 was set by Esteban Ocon while Pato O’Ward was fastest of the young drivers thanks to a time of 1’24’’662. Temperatures remained high, with asphalt between 25 and 44 degrees centigrade, and ambient temperatures that ranged from 24 to 34 degrees.

The regular drivers each had 10 tyre sets available (one set of C1 and C2, three sets of C3 and C4, plus one set of C5) while the young drivers had eight sets each (two sets of C3, four sets of C4, and two sets of C5).

A total of 2184 laps were covered: 125 on C1 (6%), 138 on C2 (6%), 718 on C3 (33%), 942 on C4 (43%), and 261 on C5 (12%). That’s compared to the 2681 laps that were covered during last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, equivalent to 14158 kilometres.

Pirelli’s on-track season isn’t quite finished in Abu Dhabi: next weekend there will be a test at Magny-Cours in France with Mercedes to focus on development of wet-weather tyres.

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.”

The session was interrupted twice by red flags. The first was brought out when Carlos Sainz crashed into the barriers at turn 3 just over eight minutes into the session. The track was open again after 27 minutes, but only for a couple of minutes before Nico Hulkenberg also hit the barriers after spinning on the exit to the first corner. The session resumed with 16 minutes to go. Quickest was Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in 1’24”809, 43 thousandths better than Lando Norris, second for McLaren. 

THE DAY ON TRACK

It was a yellow and red-tinged day given that only 21 laps were completed on the C3 compound, the hardest available here in Yas Marina, all those laps courtesy of Alfa Romeo: 9 for Zhou in FP1 and 12 for Bottas in FP2.

The track was only open for just under 27 minutes in the second session and very few drivers ran with a high fuel load. The longest stint of all came from Sargeant (12 consecutive laps on a set of Mediums), while the hardest working on the Soft were Leclerc, Zhou and Stroll, all doing 11 consecutive laps. In fact, only Piastri, Magnussen and Albon got into double figures, doing ten laps each on the Medium.

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER   

“Today’s sessions left many questions unanswered, at least in terms of the tyres. Despite this weekend running to the “classic” format, the first session was rather unusual, given that half the cars on track were entrusted to the young drivers, who by the very nature of their role, would have run to a slightly different programme to that which their regular race drivers would have undertaken. The second session, starting as the sun began to set with temperatures that were therefore dropping to ten degrees lower than in the first one, was twice interrupted, making it even more complicated to draw any conclusions relating to tyre behaviour. The numbers sum it up, with a total of 318 laps covered in FP2 today, compared to 543 last year.

Given the choices made by the teams, the Hard, which was used by just one team, would seem to be the clear favourite for the race. From what we have seen, there was a bit of graining, but the track is rubbering-in quite quickly so this situation could improve. The many laps completed on the Soft and Medium have at least allowed us to establish the gap between these two compounds at around half a second.”

“We go from the lights of Las Vegas to the Abu Dhabi sunset in the space of just a few days, after a journey of just over 13,000 kilometres, for a race that is now well-established as the season-closer. Yas Marina will host the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the 15^th time this weekend, and 11 of those have marked the final race of the season.

The track was modified in 2021 to make it faster and more flowing, which also created extra overtaking opportunities, as we saw over the last two races there. Yas Marina is on the lower end of the scale when it comes to tyre demands, despite the vertical loads on the front axle in particular. As a result, we’ve selecting the softest three compounds, with C3 as the hard, C4 as the medium, and C5 as the soft. This is the same choice as last year, and also an identical selection to that seen at Las Vegas last weekend: confirmation of the versatility of the current compounds.

As has become customary now, there will be a test day on the Tuesday after the grand prix with each team fielding two cars: one for young drivers and the other in theory for testing tyres. However, there will be no new compounds to try out: the FIA recently communicated that the 2024 compounds will be the same as this year, with the only change being that there are now five rather than six available of them, due to the elimination of the C0 (which was never used during a race weekend this year). So the test could be helpful for the teams to work on tyre management by gathering data for next season. The teams will have a predetermined tyre allocation for the test. The car doing the tyre work will have 10 sets available at the test, consisting of one C1, one C2, two C5, and three sets each of C4 and C3. Meanwhile, the car for young drivers will have two sets each of C3 and C5 available as well as four sets of C4.”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• For the last race of the season, the nominated compounds are C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft.
• Nearly all the drivers started last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the medium tyres. The top three finishers – in order, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez – all stopped just once to put on the hard tyre, between laps 16 and 21. 
• The Yas Marina lap consists of 16 corners as well as some faster sections, including a 1.2-kilometre straight between turns 5 and 6. The track modifications that took place in 2021 shortened the lap to 5.28 kilometres.
• Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver on five wins in Abu Dhabi, followed by Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel (on three wins each). Mercedes and Red Bull are the most successful teams, with six wins each.

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.”

THE DAY ON TRACK

It was a very long day, with most of the personnel only leaving the paddock as dawn was breaking. The first session was red flagged after eight minutes when a manhole cover lifted off the track surface, damaging the cars of Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon and then was stopped completely to allow for a thorough track inspection and, where necessary, repairs. This meant the second session began at 2.30 am, a delay of two and a half hours, with running time extended by 30 minutes to make up for the lost track time. In addition, the FIA ruled that the teams’ normal requirement to return two sets of tyres after FP1 as per the Sporting Regulations, could now be postponed until two hours after the end of FP2.

Red was the dominant colour when it came to compound use: the Soft completed 408 laps (54.11%), followed by the Medium (302, 40.05%), while the Hard only did 44 laps (5.84%), the latter used in FP2 by just Bottas, Tsunoda, Albon and Sargeant.

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER   
 

“It was definitely an unusual first day, with one session reduced to almost nothing and the next one extended by 50%, along with permission granted to use all the sets of tyres available to make up for the time lost in the first session. This meant we were able to get some useful initial indications which are important for the rest of the weekend, starting with how the track is evolving. As was entirely predictable, lap times tumbled down pretty quickly with every passing lap, even if we are still quite a long way off our simulation times, by around three to four seconds. Furthermore, we were able to check the speed of track evolution over a time period reasonably similar to a race distance, which highlights how conditions might change during the race itself, thus informing strategy and compound choices.

Looking at the split of laps completed between the Soft, Medium and Hard, it seems the last of these is being saved by several teams specifically for Saturday night, with the Medium also being very much in the running. Having said that, the Soft cannot be ruled out completely, precisely because of my earlier comment about track evolution. When assessing this, we must also take into account that much of the track is now open again to road traffic which is bound to lead to a quite significant reset in terms of the rubber laid down on the track surface.

Going into the Las Vegas round, we had two bugbears in mind: warm-up and graining. Honestly, as regards the first of those, today we didn’t notice anything dramatic or unprecedented compared to what we have seen before in this discipline. As for the second, it was clearly significant, but still in line with what we have experienced at other tracks. Furthermore, we saw today how the graining tended to progressively reduce as the cars did more and more laps, a sign that the situation could change, possibly quite significantly, by Saturday night, opening up opportunities that maybe today seemed unlikely.”

“Formula 1 returns to the United States for the third time this year, following Miami and Austin. And it’s with one of the most-eagerly grands prix of the year, in Las Vegas, where the pinnacle of motorsport hasn’t been seen since 1982. This will be an incredible race, as every day is showtime in Las Vegas, and all of us working in Formula 1 want to put on the sort of spectacle that is worthy of this amazing city. 

It will also be a major technical challenge for both the teams and us, as we head into this race with no real references apart from simulation. Nobody has ever actually driven the 6.12-kilometre Las Vegas Strip circuit before, which is second only to Spa in terms of overall length this year, characterised by three straights and 17 corners. The surface will be a mix of the usual street asphalt, especially on the actual Strip, as well as other parts that have been completely re-asphalted for the occasion; adding another unknown element. There won’t be any support races and the track will be opened again to normal traffic for long chunks of the day, which means that the surface won’t rubber in as usual and deliver improved grip. 

We’re expecting the cars to run quite low levels of downforce, similar to Baku or indeed Monza: hitting a high top speed will be key to being competitive. All the sessions will take place at night, with unusual ambient and track temperatures for a race weekend; more similar to those found back when pre-season testing used to take place in Europe. Those long straights also make it harder to warm up tyres in qualifying, as well as keep them in the right window: the same challenge as seen in Baku, which will probably be more pronounced in Las Vegas. 

Bearing all this in mind, we’ve selected the trio of softest compounds for this weekend: C3, C4, and C5, which should guarantee good grip. Minimum tyre pressures should be 27 psi at the front and 24.5 psi at the back, due to the expected low temperatures as well as the track layout. In cold conditions, the gap between cold tyre pressures and normal running pressures is greatly reduced – so when the car is moving, tyre pressure will increase a lot less than on other circuits due to the low asphalt temperatures. As a result, we think that running pressures will still be lower than on other circuits that are tough on tyres, such as Baku for example. 

So all the elements are in place for an extraordinary race, packed with surprises and unpredictability. As the title of Elvis Presley’s famous racing film goes…Viva Las Vegas! ”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend in Nevada will use C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft: the softest selection of tyres in the range.
• For the first time in F1 history the sessions will overlap more than one day, with a different schedule for the night race weekend. The first free practice session will take place on Thursday at 20:30 while FP2 runs from 12 midnight to 01:00 on Friday. FP3 is on Friday at 20:30, with qualifying then taking place from midnight to 01:00 on Saturday. The race starts on Saturday at 22:00.
• The new Las Vegas street circuit consists of 17 corners and three straights, with two DRS zones. The lap is 6.12 kilometres long, with an estimated top speed of 342kph. The finish line is on the corner of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane, with the layout stretching from Las Vegas Boulevard to Sands Avenue and a race distance of 50 laps.
• An opening ceremony is planned to celebrate Formula 1’s return to Las Vegas, starting at 19:30 on Wednesday. The artists scheduled to take part include Steve Aoki, Thirty Seconds to Mars, will.i.am, and the Cirque du Soleil troupe.
• More than 30 different variants of the street track were designed before the final layout was selected. The main infrastructure, including the pit building in the shape of the F1 logo, as well as the pit lane and paddock was built in just over a year.
• Formula 1 previously raced at Las Vegas as the last round of the 1981 and 1982 seasons, with both events called the Caesars Palace Grand Prix. On each occasion the race decided the championship: Alan Jones won the Grand Prix for Williams in 1981 but the title went to Brabham driver Nelson Piquet, while the following year’s race was won by Tyrrell’s Michele Alboreto with Williams driver Keke Rosberg taking the championship (and Ferrari winning the constructors’ classification).
• The Las Vegas Strip circuit passes close to The Sphere: a spherical structure 110 metres high that is completely covered by 1.2 million LED panels. The building – the biggest in the world of its type – houses a 15,000-metre square 16K resolution screen. Costing 2.3 billion dollars, The Sphere was inaugurated at the start of November with a U2 concert: during the Grand Prix weekend, it will light up the circuit with a reproduction Pirelli P Zero Elect tyre, alternating with a Pirelli logo. A customised Pirelli animation will also be seen on the roof of the new building that hosts the pits and Paddock Club.
• The podium finishers will wear a special edition Pirelli podium cap with gold braiding. The Stars and Stripes flag as well as “Las Vegas 2023” script will also appear on the gap – which is also on sale to the public from all authorised retailers.

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!”

Qualifying was unpredictable and very closely contested. In Q1, the 20 drivers were all within the same second, while the fastest 10 in Q2 were all within 354 thousandths of a second.

THE DAY ON TRACK 
 

The Sprint format this weekend meant there was only the one free practice session. Almost all the teams concentrated on running the Hard with 74.4% of the laps completed on this compound, while Alonso and the two Alpine drivers have already used two sets. The remaining laps were divided almost equally between the Medium (14.5%) and the Soft (11.1%). Track temperature during the session varied between 38 and 42 °C, as the wind began to make its presence felt on track. Two cars had punctures – a left rear for Alonso and Hamilton – because of debris on track.

The start of qualifying was delayed by 15 minutes so that the marshals could clean the track more. Then, almost up to the end of Q2, the weather was reasonably stable even if the temperature dropped quickly and the track seemed to get progressively quicker. In the closing moments of Q2 however, the wind really picked up and the times got slower. The sky was completely dark and the air was heavy with rain, but it only started to fall a few minutes into Q3, by which time most of the ten drivers had managed to put in a timed lap. The one exception was Piastri who was caught out and ended up in the gravel, bringing out a yellow flag which also affected Perez. From then on, it began to rain really hard and so the session was red flagged, not to be resumed.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented by the 41 year old Brazilian footballer, Adriano Leite Ribeiro, known as “The Emperor.” The striker was Italian champion four times with Internazionale, the club with which he also won two Coppa Italia and three Italian Supercap. Playing for his country, his palmares also features wins in the Copa America and a Confederations Cup.

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER   
 

“The Friday of a Sprint weekend is always very frenetic with all the teams having just one hour to prepare for the rest of the programme, trying to fine tune the set-up and, at the same time, evaluate the three compounds available to them. On top of that, the Sprint format means the teams try to use their sets differently to usual, aiming for the most efficient use possible. Clearly, for Interlagos, we and the teams have a lot of data from previous years to call on, which will be useful in the coming hours, given that information acquired in FP1 is rather limited. From what we have seen, the C2 does not seem favourite for race use, because it has shown far from negligible degradation, triggered by the low level of grip leading to the cars sliding a lot.

The weather changed for the worse between free practice and qualifying, with temperatures dropping pretty suddenly, the wind increasing in intensity and the threat of rain looming more and more, eventually producing the storm that led to qualifying ending early. This made life difficult for the drivers, who had to deal with very changeable track conditions, while the wind was changing direction and speed to complicate matters still further.

The forecast is for better weather tomorrow with no rain. Last year in the Sprint here, 18 of the 20 drivers used the Soft and it's likely we can expect a similar scenario tomorrow, given that the temperatures should still be cooler than in this morning’s free practice.”

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.

“The Interlagos circuit in the Brazilian city of São Paulo is well-known for providing thrilling races. The lap is only 4.309 kilometres long, making it one of the shortest of the year, with only Monaco and Mexico City being shorter. It’s also run anti-clockwise and situated on a hillside, which gives it a unique character. The drivers face a steep downhill section after the first corner, followed by a long climb uphill with several winding turns, and then a long straight leading back to the finish line. The track has 15 corners –  five right-handers and nine left-handers – with several direction changes. Interlagos has a bit of everything, featuring low as well as medium speed corners, and the cars running quite a high level of downforce. The forces acting on the tyres are reasonably balanced between lateral and longitudinal. The asphalt itself has a high level of roughness: typical of permanent tracks with a long history behind them. Degradation is mainly thermal, so the C2, C3, and C4 compounds have been chosen. A two-stopper is the most likely strategy, while a one-stopper would require plenty of tyre management; affecting race pace. The safety car has often featured during the grand prix, introducing another key variable, and we have also seen that weather conditions can vary rapidly and widely at this time of year as well. Interlagos will additionally host the final sprint round of the season, giving the teams and drivers another chance to assess tyre behaviour over long runs. Since sprint races came in for the 2021 season, Interlagos has always been one of them – a sure sign of how this track consistently delivers the sort of close racing that suits the sprint format.”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The three compounds chosen for the Brazilian Grand Prix are C2 as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow medium, and C4 as P Zero Red soft. 
• Mercedes has won the most races at Interlagos since the Brazilian Grand Prix adopted the name of its host city, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell winning in 2021 and 2022 respectively. 
• Interlagos has hosted 39 world championship grands prix in total, with Ferrari winning 10 times and Michael Schumacher being the most successful driver on four wins.
• The Brazilian Grand Prix has also been held at the  Jacarepaguà circuit in Rio de Janeiro 10 times. 
• Kevin Magnussen gave Haas its maiden pole position last year, making the most of his soft compound tyres in the rain at the start of Q3. It was also the Dane’s first (and so far only) pole, ahead of his eighth place in the sprint race the following day.

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.”

In the first session, no fewer than five young drivers made their debut at a Formula 1 event as part of the “rookie driver test” programme set out in the championship’s Sporting Regulations: they were English driver Oliver Bearman in the Haas, France’s Isack Hadjar for AlphaTauri and Theo Pourchaire with Alfa Romeo, the Dane Frederik Vesti with Mercedes and Australia’s Jack Doohan in the Alpine. The quickest of the quintet was Bearman in 1:21.313, good enough for 15^th fastest overall.

THE DAY ON TRACK

On the tyre front, the day featured a test of a new version of the C4 compound for possible use in 2024. Plenty of data was acquired thanks to the work of the teams which will be analysed in the coming days, before a definite decision is taken. The total number of laps completed by the tyres with no colour on their sidewalls was 265, almost a quarter of the lap total from the two hours of free practice. The most used tyre was the C4 (350 laps).

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER   
 

“After two weekends run to the Sprint format, Mexico City marks a return to the usual one, with Friday given over mainly to an evaluation of the various compounds we have chosen for this event. In addition, we also had a test programme for a new version of the C4, with each driver having two sets available to use as they saw fit. We would like to thank all the teams for their support in this important phase of development, because it’s not easy squeezing something extra in what is always a very busy programme. I think we have gathered a lot of useful data – with significant results from some of the comparative tests between the current Medium and the prototype – which will see us make a decision in the coming days over its eventual inclusion in the 2024 range.

As for the other compounds, two elements have to be taken into consideration. The first is the rapid evolution of the track which rubbered-in gradually with every lap. The second was the weather which, especially in the second session, affected tyre performance, particularly on long runs towards the end when the air and track temperatures dropped significantly, even more so if compared to the first session.

As expected, graining was an important consideration, especially on the softest compound and on the front left tyre. Also relevant was the degradation in terms of performance and that could definitely have an impact on strategy. On paper, a one-stop is still the quickest, but a two-stop cannot be ruled out, or at least the teams will need to adopt a flexible approach, possibly starting the race with a clear plan for both options and then making a decision based on tyre behaviour in the first stint. The fact that track conditions will improve has to be taken into consideration, as it could lead to a progressive reduction in the risk of graining.”

“The second stop on Formula 1’s American tour takes place in Mexico City on the circuit named after Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez: the brothers who were local motorsport heroes throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The track, located on the west side of the city, is just over four kilometres long with 17 corners and it sits at more than 2000 metres of altitude. This has an important effect on car performance, with the rarefied air reducing drag and also downforce. As a result, the aero settings on the cars are similar to those used on high-downforce circuits – only with a much reduced effect on the tyres. The grip from the asphalt is also much less than average, as surface roughness is among the lowest of the entire calendar.

This year we have decided to bring the three softest compounds to Mexico – C3, C4 and C5 – after careful reflection based on last year’s information, as well as the simulations that the teams have as always supplied to us. This should lead to a wider variety of strategy choices throughout the race, opening the door to a two-stop strategy as well. Last year, when the chosen compounds were C2, C3, and C4, nearly all the drivers stopped only once, mainly using soft and medium.

Mexico also gives us the chance to try out a new variant of the C4 with all the teams. During the two hours of free practice on Friday each driver will have two sets of these new prototypes to use as they wish. Once we have analysed all the data, we will then decide whether or not to homologate this version for use in 2024.”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• In Mexico the teams will have C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft: one step softer compared to 2022.
• Graining is often seen at this track, with the cars sliding more due to the reduced aerodynamic effect and high altitude.
• Max Verstappen is the most successful driver in Mexico City, with four wins from seven participations. This also means that Red Bull has more victories than any other team in Mexico.
• A one-stopper was the most popular strategy last year. Max Verstappen started on a used set of softs and then finished the race on mediums, ahead of Lewis Hamilton who instead started on the medium tyre and finished on the hard.
• There’s a big difference in temperature between the start and the end of each day: a factor to bear in mind when it comes to analysing potential degradation rates.

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.

THE DAY ON TRACK 
 

Another Sprint weekend, the fourth of the season and the second in a row after Lusail. It means that, on a track that is particularly demanding for the tyres, the teams only had an hour of free practice to set up the cars for the rest of the weekend and to evaluate tyre behaviour over a long run. The track proved to be in good condition right from the first session, with times tumbling down gradually as the cars put in the laps and, despite very high temperatures, with the track reaching 45°C, times were a second quicker than in the same session last year.

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER   
 

“The Sprint weekends always pose an additional challenge for everyone, because there is less time to evaluate car and tyre performance before the teams have to tackle qualifying. That is also true for us, because, objectively, we have far less data with which to predict tyre behaviour over the rest of the weekend. However, today we still managed to gather sufficient information relating to all three compounds, especially the Medium and Hard, with which the teams did pretty representative long runs, both with a full fuel load in race trim as well as with a medium fuel level. Both compounds seemed to work well in terms of performance and consistency. As was easily predictable, the Soft seems to be only viable for a short stint, so its use in the races would only be possible in certain situations, for example a Safety Car period towards the end.

One important aspect is that none of the three compounds showed any signs of graining despite the very high temperatures, with the track comfortably exceeding the 40 °C mark. Tomorrow we can expect a particularly busy Saturday with the Shootout kicking things off, followed by the Sprint over a distance of 19 laps. A fortnight ago in Qatar, the choice of which compound to use for the Sprint was pretty well balanced, with twelve drivers starting on the Medium and eight on the Soft, the latter taking a risk on the Saturday to try and gain an advantage in the following day’s race and this is a scenario that could be played out again tomorrow afternoon.”

F1 ACADEMY 
 

For the first time ever, the young women competing in the F1 Academy were able to race each other on the same track and in the same conditions as their Formula 1 colleagues. COTA is actually hosting the seventh and final round of the inaugural season of the women’s series, for which Pirelli is the sole tyre supplier. Marta Garcia (Prema Racing) took pole position in the first qualifying session, while that honour fell to Jessica Edgar (Rodin Carlin) in the second one. The first two races of the season finale take place tomorrow, Saturday, the first over 12 laps (maximum 30 minutes + 1 lap) and the second over 8 laps (maximum 20 minutes +1 lap).

“Austin kicks off a series of four races – three of them run consecutively – on the American continent. And it all begins with the United States Grand Prix: a land that is steeped in motorsport tradition but has truly made its F1 presence felt only in the last few years, thanks to all the different initiatives implemented by Liberty Media in a number of different areas.

The Circuit of the Americas has hosted the United States Grand Prix every year since 2012, with the exception of 2020 when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I would describe COTA as a complete track, with medium to high levels of downforce. Turn 1, a left-hander, is particularly distinctive at the end of a 22-metre climb, covered within just 200 metres of track distance. It makes the start particularly interesting, with drivers heading in a number of different directions to find the best line. That corner leads into a flowing first sector, characterised by a series of medium to fast corners all the way to the hairpin that is Turn 11. That’s then followed by a long straight leading into the final part of the track, which is instead typified by a series of slower and 90-degree corners.

The forces at work on the tyres are mainly lateral, and they are quite well balanced between front and rear, without a specific corner of the car being subjected to particular stress. It’s also important to have good traction in the slow corners. The asphalt is still quite bumpy, despite the partial resurfacing that took place last year. This can lead to the tyre sliding very slightly, which is a potential cause of overheating. The degradation seen at Austin is mostly thermal, while graining is quite a rare occurrence, The race has always been held in autumn: a time of year when the weather can be very changeable, even within a very short time span. It’s not uncommon to see alternately sunny and rain days, with a wide range of temperatures.

The Sprint format comes to Austin for the first time this year; another opportunity for a fanbase that is becoming more and more enthusiastic about modern F1 to soak up some spectacular action.”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The drivers will have the C2 as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow medium and C4 as P Zero Red soft at the Circuit of the Americas.
• The Medium and the Hard were used during last year’s race. Race winner Max Verstappen did his first and his final stint on the Mediums, with the middle stint run on the Hard. There were two neutralisations with safety cars.
• Austin will host a ‘Sprint’ weekend for the first time in its history this year. This means that on Friday there will just be one hour of free practice and then qualifying. On Saturday there will be the F1 Sprint itself (preceded by the Shootout to set the Sprint grid) while on Sunday the Grand Prix takes place as usual.
• This weekend’s race will be the 75th Grand Prix to take place in the United States. A total of 11 different venues have hosted world championship races, with Watkins Glen staging the most Grands Prix – 20 in total – followed by Indianapolis on 19.
• Austin has hosted the race on 10 occasions previously: five of them have been won by Lewis Hamilton, most recently in 2017. Ten years previously, at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, Lewis won his very first F1 race: held at the time in Indianapolis. 
• Some corners on the Herman Tilke-designed Circuit of the Americas are inspired by famous turns at other renowned tracks. Turns 3 to 6 are reminiscent of the Maggotts-Becketts complex at Silverstone, turns 12 to 15 are inspired by a section of the Hockenheimring, while turns 16 to 18 take after the celebrated turn 8 at Istanbul Park. 
• The F1 Academy will make an appearance alongside Formula 1 for the first time at Austin, to mark its final race of the season. The Pirelli-equipped series for young female drivers will host three races at the Texan track and crown its inaugural champion. Prema Racing’s Marta Garcia currently leads the championship with 235 points, followed by ART Grand Prix driver Lena Buhler on 187 points and MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi on 179 points. 

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.”

THE DAY ON TRACK

The only hour of free practice available on a Sprint weekend was marked by significant track evolution, with lap times dropping by more than ten seconds between a driver’s first run and his best time. The vast majority of teams opted to work with two of the three compounds available, using two sets of tyres, while Ferrari was the only team to prefer evaluating the full range as from today, thus using three of the 12 sets of dry weather tyres available. Across the field, the Hard did 209 laps, the Medium 228, so almost equal use between these two, while the Soft was only fitted for 81 laps.

The track continued to improve significantly during qualifying as the cars did more and more laps, but it did not rubber-in enough for the predicted times from simulation to be achieved.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Max Verstappen by Mario Isola, Pirelli Director of Motorsport.

SIMONE BERRA – CHIEF ENGINEER   
 

“Wind, sand and a brand-new surface: this combination made it very difficult to decipher the first day at the Lusail circuit. The conditions were predictable, but they certainly made life more complicated for everyone because very little of the acquired data was useful to prepare for the rest of the weekend. That is even more the case for ourselves, because with only 60 minutes of free practice there was very little time for long runs, with few laps completed and few drivers attempting it.

In fact, it’s tomorrow’s Sprint race that will provide some indication on tyre behaviour over a long run, although we need to keep in mind that the wind could once again blow a lot of sand onto the track in the coming hours, which would effectively reverse its condition to the way it was when the drivers tackled it this afternoon. We will therefore have to rely on the simulations we have received from the teams to give our assessment of how the tyres might behave on a track that is certainly one of the most severe tests they face.”

“Formula 1 now returns to Qatar, two years after its debut there in 2021. But in many ways, it’s another new beginning, as the cars are now very different to the ones we saw a couple of years ago and the Losail circuit has been completely resurfaced, with modified kerbs as well. On paper, the track’s main features remain the same – with a main straight just over a kilometre long and 16 corners – but it’s clear that the changes made over the last two years mean that the data collected from the first grand prix is only relatively useful.

In terms of severity, Losail is a very challenging circuit for tyres, similar to Silverstone and Suzuka. So it’s no coincidence that the compounds chosen are the same: C1, C2, and C3. There’s quite a variety of corners, most of them medium speed and high speed. The series of corners between Turns 12 and 14 is quite reminiscent of the famous Turn 8 at Istanbul: one of the most demanding corners for tyres in the recent history of Formula 1. This sequence is also one of the most influential factors to a good lap time. The fact that 11 of the 16 corners are right-handers puts particular stress on the left of the car, especially at the front, but the energy levels seen going through the tyres in 2021 were still quite well-balanced between the two axles.

Another factor making the Qatar Grand Prix even more challenging for us as well as the drivers and the teams is the return of the Sprint format. Just one hour of free practice will be available on Friday to determine the set-up and assess tyre behaviour over long runs; furthermore that session happens in the heat of the day – which will warm up the asphalt – as opposed to qualifying and the two races, which take place at night. So everything is in place for an interesting weekend as well as perhaps a few surprises; the ability to adapt quickly and well to the track could deliver a significant advantage.”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• For the Qatar Grand Prix, teams will have C1 as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium, and C3 as P Zero Red soft. This is the same nomination made for the previous race, in Japan.
• As well as new asphalt, there is also new infrastructure at Losail. The pit garages, originally designed for MotoGP, have been enlarged and increased in number. There’s also a new race control facility and media centre.
• The only Qatar Grand Prix held so far was won by Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver, who started from pole, won ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull (which set fastest lap) and Fernando Alonso, driving for Alpine at the time. 
• A wide range of strategies was seen two years ago. Half the drivers started on Softs with the other half on Mediums, while the number of pit stops varied from one to three. Hamilton won with a two-stopper, completing two initial stints on the medium tyre before a final stint on the Hard.
• Doha will be a night race, with qualifying and the grand prix starting at 20:00 (local time). On Saturday, the Sprint Shootout will start at 16:00 and the Sprint race itself at 20:30. There are no support races on the schedule, which means that the track will not be rubbered in from other cars.
• Although some green spaces were specifically built around the circuit, sand often blows onto the surface from the surrounding desert. This makes track evolution another key factor, which will be accentuated by the new asphalt.
• Ambient temperatures are high in Qatar at this time of year, peaking beyond 40°C during the week leading up to the race. But the later time of the sessions compared to 2021 should lead to a wider temperature range than was seen two years ago.

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.”

It was a particularly busy Friday on the tyre front. On a track that’s always tough on tyres, today, apart from the usual evaluation of the three compounds chosen for this weekend, teams also had the possibility to try a new version of the C2, prior to its potential introduction in 2024. Each driver had two sets of these available. All this to be squeezed into two hours of free practice, which ran normally, with the exception of the red flags coming out and ending FP2 a couple of minutes early. All the teams embraced the test, with over 1300 kilometres completed on the prototype compound, which produced a significant amount of data, from both long and short runs.

SIMONE BERRA - CHIEF ENGINEER          

“There was a lot going on today in Suzuka, on a track that is always particularly challenging for the tyres. In fact, apart from the usual job list, we ran a test with a new version of one compound for 2024 and it was important to be able to work with the teams to try and gather as much data as possible. Therefore, we thank them and the drivers who collaborated fully in adding this test to their usual work programme. Over 1300 kilometres was completed on this prototype C2 and from the initial feedback it seems it is not delivering the potential for improvement in terms of the grip we wanted to achieve, but obviously, now all this information will have to be analysed carefully before reaching a final decision.

As for the trio of compounds we have here in Suzuka, initial indications are that the level of wear is very good, while the thermal degradation is rather high, albeit in line with our expectations given the surface temperature, which has always been around the 40°C mark and the characteristics of the track. Therefore, if going into this event the difference between a one and a two stop strategy was very tight, today the balance is definitely swinging in favour of the latter.”

“The Japanese Grand Prix takes place on one of the most fascinating and demanding tracks in Formula 1 history: Suzuka, with its unique figure of eight layout. This historic venue is a drivers’ favourite, being absolutely thrilling to drive in today’s ultra-competitive single-seaters. With its very significant lateral and vertical loads, Suzuka is as demanding on tyres as it is on drivers. These demands are equally distributed across all four wheels, with 10 right-handers and eight left-handers throughout the six-kilometre lap. As a result of these challenging characteristics, we bring some of the hardest tyres in the 2023 range to Japan: C1, C2, and C3. This is only nominally the same as last year's selection on account of the new C1 compound, which was introduced this season to slot in between the C2 and former C1 (now called C0). On Friday, all the teams will get the chance to test a new version of the C2 compound, with a view to homologating it for next season. This latest evolution should provide more grip than the current C2, and so fit in more coherently between the C1 and C3. For the first two free practice sessions, each driver will have two additional sets of tyres, compared to the usual 13 sets per weekend. This test is part of a development programme that was recently defined for 2024 and will continue with a new C4 compound to be tested on track during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend.”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• At Suzuka the teams will have C1 as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as P Zero Red soft.
• The Japanese Grand Prix could spring a few surprises due to the high temperatures recorded last week, with highs of up to 33 degrees centigrade. If this continues, tyre degradation could become an important factor.
• Weather conditions have often heavily influenced the Japanese Grand Prix. On four occasions (2004, 2009, 2010, and 2019) qualifying has been held on  Sunday morning due to torrential rain or the threat of a typhoon. 
• In 2022, the race was interrupted due to rain on the first lap. The restart occurred three hours later, with only 45 minutes to go due to the maximum allowed race duration (four hours). In total, 28 laps were completed, with the drivers using only Cinturato intermediate and Full Wet tyres.
• The asphalt at Suzuka features some of the highest levels of roughness and abrasion seen all season. Wear and degradation are important factors in determining the run plan for free practice, as well as race strategy. 
• There have been 36 editions of the Japanese Grand Prix valid for the F1 World Championship: 32 of them hosted at Suzuka – Honda's home circuit – and four at Fuji, which belongs to Toyota.  The most victorious team is McLaren, with nine wins, while the driver who has won the most times is Michael Schumacher (six wins). In 1994 and 1995, the Pacific Grand Prix was also held in Japan, at the Aida circuit.
• The Japanese Grand Prix has crowned a new world champion 11 times: most recently last year, when Max Verstappen won his second world title. In 1995, Michael Schumacher also became world champion for the second time after winning the Pacific Grand Prix.

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.”

It was a very busy day on track in Singapore, with drivers making the most of the 120 minutes to get to grips with one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar, both in terms of the conditions – very hot weather and running under lights – as well as the intrinsically tricky track characteristics. The only interruptions were caused by a couple of Monitor lizards crossing the track at various points, requiring the marshals to wave yellow flags.

The teams worked through the usual Friday programme, looking for the best set-up in the first hour and concentrating on qualifying and long run simulations in the second one. All drivers used at least one set of Hard tyres, the majority in the first session, while the Medium proved to be the most popular in the second one, at least when testing race pace.

SIMONE BERRA - CHIEF ENGINEER          

“It was a very useful day for us, as we were able to gather plenty of data on all three compounds we have here, both on short and long runs. The first observation is that track conditions evolved very quickly during both sessions, a very important factor when it comes to evaluating lap times, although it makes assessing the performance difference between the compounds more complicated. As expected, we saw considerable thermal degradation on all three compounds, obviously the most significant with the Soft.

The new track layout has resulted in a much quicker lap time, which already today has dropped to the predicted pole position time of 1:31.900. The changes to Sector 3 will make traffic management slightly easier in qualifying, but it will still be something to keep an eye on, as is always the case on twisty circuits like this one. In terms of strategy, we think that, given the length of the pit lane, a one-stop is still the clear favourite, with the Hard compound predictably playing a leading role.”

“The closing stages of this long season, taking Formula 1 to three continents and 16 different time zones, kicks off in Singapore this weekend. This was the first race to take place under artificial light: an idea that was later followed, in varying degrees, by other venues. From a technical point of view, Marina Bay is a typical street circuit: very twisty (with 19 corners, many of them 90-degree) and little run off. As a result, even a small mistake can be costly, while the track layout also means that the cars run a high level of downforce. This year, the lap takes on a new look due to some building work in the Marina Bay area: the part of the track that was previously turns 16 to 19 is now just a single straight, which is nearly 400 metres long. This change will make the track faster; firstly because the total lap length is now less than five kilometres and secondly because the layout has become a lot more flowing. We’ll wait to see if this change has an effect on strategies, because in theory at least it could create an overtaking opportunity – with passing notoriously difficult unless you have a much faster car.

This track doesn’t place particular stress on the tyres in terms of loading, but the rear tyres need to be carefully managed during the traction phase when exiting slow corners. Temperatures are usually consistently high, as Singapore is only about 150 kilometres from the equator. This increases the risk of overheating: not just for tyres but also everything else, including the mechanicals and of course the driver!”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• As has been the case for all the other street circuits this year, Pirelli will bring the trio of softest compounds to Singapore: C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft.
• The Singapore Grand Prix takes place at night, starting at 8pm local time. The intense humidity, high temperatures and heat retention due to the walls lining the track make this a physically demanding race for the drivers.
• The layout has been modified this year, with the section of track between turns 16 and 19 now becoming a straight that is around 397 metres long. This means that the number of corners goes down from 23 to 19, while the total lap length is now 4.940 kilometres (compared to 5.063 previously). The race has been extended to 62 laps: one lap more than last year.
• There’s plenty of ‘street furniture’ on the public roads that make up the Marina Bay circuit such as painted white lines and manholes, which can affect grip levels: especially if it rains.
• A one-stop strategy is the clear way to go, also because the pit stop loss time of around 28 seconds is the highest of the season, together with Imola. The hardest compound available is normally the main race tyre if it stays dry.
• As with other street tracks, grid position is usually crucial to a good finish, given the limited overtaking opportunities. Qualifying tends to have a strong influence on the final outcome.
• Last year, the race start was postponed by an hour due to a storm that hit Marina Bay a few minutes before grid formed up. The cars began the race on intermediate tyres and then switched to Medium and Soft – with a Virtual Safety Car also influencing strategy.
• The first edition of the Singapore Grand Prix was held in 2008. Since then it has been held a further 12 times at the Marina Bay track, with no race held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There have been five different winners in total: Sebastian Vettel (five victories), Lewis Hamilton (four victories), Fernando Alonso (two victories), and Nico Rosberg and Sergio Perez, who have each won once. The teams with the most victories are Mercedes and Red Bull, with four wins each, while Ferrari has set the most pole positions: six.

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.”

The first day of practice at the Temple of Speed, as Monza is universally known, proved to be a very busy one for drivers and teams. In pretty stable weather conditions, the teams worked hard on evaluating all three dry weather compounds over the two free practice sessions, running to a different programme to usual.

This weekend is being run to the ATA (Alternative Tyre Allocation) format, meaning that only 11 sets of slicks are available rather than the usual 13, split between three Hard compound sets, four Medium and four Soft. In tomorrow’s qualifying drivers must use just one compound per session: Hard in Q1, Medium in Q2 and Soft in Q3.

As an example of the different to usual programmes, in FP1, the majority of drivers used just one set of tyres, with Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes concentrating on the Hard, Aston Martin and Haas opting for the Medium, while Alpine, McLaren, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and Williams went for the Soft, with several drivers doing some long runs in this first session already.

The team programmes in the second session were a bit more varied and traditional, at least in terms of the tyre colours being used. Only the Haas duo and Piastri in the McLaren went with the Hard, while the others ran a mix of Medium and Soft, the latter mainly for qualifying simulations, in the hope they will get the chance to use them, as they can only be fitted for Q3.

SIMONE BERRA - CHIEF ENGINEER          
 

“It was a very useful day in terms of the data gathered which we will now analyse ahead of the rest of the weekend. The ATA seems to have led the teams to modify their programme, allowing us to gather plenty of tyre-related data, split pretty much equally across all three dry compounds available, without in anyway lessening the show on track, given that the laps completed were completely in line with the numbers we saw last year here in Monza. 

Furthermore, we were already seeing long runs in FP1, when the temperatures were more similar to those we can expect on Sunday for the race, when compared to what would have happened with the traditional format. FP2 ran to a more conventional Friday pattern so that we were able to confirm the performance gaps between the Medium and the Soft which we had estimated would be around half a second. From what we have seen so far, the compounds that would seem best suited for use in the race are the Medium and the Hard, as the Soft does not deliver a big performance advantage, given the temperatures this weekend. The track is still evolving and, as it gradually rubbers-in, there should be less of the light tread wear we saw today, especially with the Softs.”

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.

The Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia 2023 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.

Ruth Beraha said: «When I began to study Formula 1, I immediately realised that technology formed a fundamental part of the sport. I wanted to pay homage to that, and so I found within the car a visual element I could use as a starting point. I picked out the exhaust pipes, which had an extremely organic form. From those pipes, I was able to imagine the snakes. The trophy is like a creature tamed in the moment that the race winner holds it, but still threatening and always able to turn everything on its head».

This is the third year in which Pirelli and Pirelli HangarBicocca have chosen a modern Italian artist to create the trophy for a Grand Prix held in Italy of which Pirelli is title sponsor, reinforcing the tangible links between modern creativity and the perennial innovation in Formula 1.

In 2021, the commission was awarded to Alice Ronchi for the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna, while in 2022 Patrick Tuttofuoco created the trophy for the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia.

‘Tifone’ will be revealed during the ‘Pirelli Tyre Talks’: a media event held in the Pirelli Hot Laps garage (box 7-8) during the first free practice session for the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia 2023, from 13:30 to 14:30 CET on Friday 1 September. Ruth Beraha will be present at the event along with Enrico Gualtieri: Scuderia Ferrari’s Power Unit area director.

FORMULA 1 PIRELLI GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA 2023 trophy designed by Ruth Beraha: Tifone, 2023. 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place Driver. Commissioned by Pirelli in collaboration with Pirelli HangarBicocca. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Simone Fico and Filippo Candotti.

“As usual, the European Formula 1 season draws to a close in Monza: which is also Pirelli’s home event as our headquarters are just a few kilometres away from this iconic circuit. Monza is synonymous with speed, as its nickname of the ‘Temple of Speed’ capably demonstrates. To this day, it’s where the fastest race in the history of Formula 1 was held, with Michael Schumacher setting an unbeaten average race speed of 247.585 kph back in 2003.

As a result, teams use the lowest possible aerodynamic downforce levels to favour top speed by reducing drag. Stability under braking and traction coming out of the two chicanes are the two key factors that challenge tyres most on this track, as well as the lateral loads exerted in the fast corners such as Parabolica (named after Michele Alboreto) and Curva Grande.

After Hungary, Monza will be the second time that the Alternative Tyre Allocation (ATA) is trialled, which uses two fewer sets of tyres than the standard format. This offers a benefit in terms of CO2 saved both during production and transport, as well as giving teams and drivers a wider range of strategic option. For this reason as well, we have chosen the trio of softest compounds for Monza – C3, C4, and C5 – which has already been nominated five times this season.”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• For the Italian Grand Prix, C3 will be used as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. These are the softest compounds in the Pirelli Formula 1 range, already nominated for five other race weekends so far this season.
• The Alternative Tyre Allocation will be tried again at Monza, after the first test in Hungary. Each driver will have just 11 sets of slick tyres (three Hard, four Medium and four Soft) at their disposal for the weekend. In qualifying, drivers can use only one type of compound per session (unless it's wet): in Q1 the Hard, in Q2 the Medium, and in Q3 the Soft.
• Last year, there were no fewer than eight different strategies deployed by the top 10 finishers. Max Verstappen and George Russell (first and third respectively) opted for a single stop, while Charles Leclerc – who finished second – had already made two stops before a safety car towards the end of the race allowed all three drivers to stop again.
• The Italian Grand Prix is one of the races that has counted for every drivers’ championship since the very first competition in 1950. It has always been held in Monza with only one exception, when Imola hosted the race in 1980. Monza was inaugurated in 1922 and is one of the oldest tracks in the world still to be used, second only to Indianapolis. The team with the most victories at Monza is Ferrari (19 out of 72 total grands prix) while the drivers with the most wins are Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, on five each.
• Monza has produced different winners over the last five years. Lewis Hamilton won in 2018, Charles Leclerc in 2019, Pierre Gasly in 2020, then Daniel Ricciardo in 2021, and Max Verstappen in 2022.
• Pirelli will remain in Monza after the Italian Grand Prix for a couple of days of testing with Alpine and Red Bull. The teams will take to the track on Tuesday and Wednesday after the race (5-6 September) to test prototype slick tyres.

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 first day of track action at Zandvoort was a busy one, even if both free practice sessions were briefly stopped once because of cars having gone off the track and into the gravel trap or the barriers. Lando Norris was quickest overall in his McLaren, setting the best time in the second session, getting round the 4.259 kilometre track in 1:11.330, one second quicker than the best time in the corresponding session at last year’s Grand Prix, which was set by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari in 1:12.345.

This weekend is being run to the standard format and the teams worked to well-established programmes, especially in FP2 when, after a few more stints with relatively low fuel loads, they concentrated on running in race trim, doing quite long runs. For example, 18 laps were completed by Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) on the Hard and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) on the Soft.

The track was very dirty at the start of the day, which is to be expected with a track located amongst the sand dunes just a few hundred metres from the North Sea. Conditions evolved very rapidly as the cars put in the laps, a process which will also continue significantly tomorrow and Sunday, bearing in mind that the weather could still play a part.

SIMONE BERRA - CHIEF ENGINEER 
 

“All in all, this was a very useful day for us because we were able to gather a lot of data relating to the three compounds we have brought to Zandvoort, both on short and long runs. Compared to last year, we have a new Hard – the C1 – which from what we saw today is degrading much less, even though it was used mainly in FP1 when the track surface was still very dirty and provided very little grip. The relatively cooler temperatures could make the softest compound, the C3, a more plausible race tyre. The situation is therefore very open when it comes to Sunday’s tyre choice, which means a more interesting and uncertain weekend is in prospect. In terms of the gaps between the compounds, the rapid track evolution means it is not yet possible to come up with reliable estimates, while one should also consider that the forecast says there is a significant chance of rain, especially for tomorrow, which is another unknown factor to take into consideration.”

“The second half of the season gets underway with a unique race. The Dutch Grand Prix takes place in Zandvoort: one of the most traditionally demanding tracks on the calendar that returned to the Formula 1 schedule three years ago on the wave of all the local support for Max Verstappen, who repaid his fans amply with a pair of victories from the last two races. It’s a very twisty track with two banked corners – Turn 3 and Turn 14 – that are steeper than Indianapolis, by way of comparison. On corners like this the stress on the tyres is greater than it would be through normal corners, as the vertical forces increase with the much higher speeds due to the banking. We’ve brought the same tyres as 2022, at least as far as the names are concerned: C1, C2, and C3. However, the current C1 is actually a new compound for this year, positioned between the C2 and the previous C1, which is now called the C0. Last year, in a race that was characterised by two neutralisations, no fewer than 14 drivers – including the top three – used all three compounds, underlining the wide variety of options available to the strategists on the pit wall.”

THE TYRES ON TRACK 

• The C1 compound is nominated at the Dutch Grand Prix as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as P Zero Red soft. This is the same choice as the last two years (since Zandvoort returned to the calendar) with the difference being that the current C1 compound is softer than its predecessors.
• A total 32 Formula 1 Grands Prix have been held at Zandvoort since 1952, with the track returning to the calendar in 2021 after a 35-year absence. The most successful team in Zandvoort is Ferrari with eight wins, while the driver with the most victories (4) is Jim Clark.
• Most drivers made three pit stops last year. On paper, the fastest strategy is a two-stopper, but it’s possible to stop just once with careful tyre management. Last year, the opportunity for a final stop onto the softs was made possible by a late safety car (following a virtual safety car).
• Overtaking is tricky because of the narrow track and constant sequence of corners. This makes qualifying even more important in terms of the end result.
• The Zandvoort circuit was inaugurated in 1948 and is located between the sand dunes right next the North Sea. As a result, sand can sometimes get blown onto the track and reduce the grip from the tyres: which is a risk at Sakhir in Bahrain as well. 
• The Dutch Grand Prix gets the second half of the season underway, a week before Monza. The Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d'Italia 2023 will take place from September 1-3: the home race for Ferrari and AlphaTauri.