Pirelli has communicated the teams’ tire choices for the 3 test days in Bahrain, and there are some surprises. Red Bull has opted for harder compounds, while Ferrari has taken the opposite approach, choosing softer compounds. Mercedes will have the most sets of C3, a total of 25, while McLaren and Alpine will appear without soft compounds.
Less than 24 hours remain until the start of testing in Bahrain, and choices are already being made, in this case, regarding the tires. Pirelli has revealed the teams’ decisions for the three days of testing in Sakhir regarding the selected tire sets, allowing us to get a first idea of the work programs of the teams.
Each team will have a total of 35 sets of slick tires at their disposal, to be divided among the five compounds in the range. In addition, there are 2 sets of intermediates and 2 sets of full wets for extreme wet conditions. Although adverse conditions are not expected for this week’s tests, the first day of the Formula 2 and Formula 3 tests in mid-February was influenced by rain.
It’s worth noting that the tire specifications have not undergone substantial changes compared to the last season, retaining the characteristics of the tires introduced halfway through the previous season in response to the higher loads from the 2023 cars, which were higher than anticipated.
For Red Bull, there will be no “glory-run” with the C5 at the end of the test, as they have chosen not to bring the softest compound available, just like McLaren, Aston Martin, Alpine, Racing Bulls, and Haas. Generally, the softest compound was used toward the end of the day with cooler temperatures, but there were instances where teams exploited them in the hotter hours, towards the end of one of the drivers’ sessions.
From the allocation chosen by the Milton Keynes team, it appears that the intention is to run with the harder compounds in the range, particularly with the C3 (20 sets), C2 (5 sets), and C1 (6 sets), while bringing only 4 sets of C4 to have a reference with softer compounds as well.
This decision contrasts with Ferrari’s, which has chosen to bring 2 sets of C5 and 6 sets of C4, with the possibility of conducting intermediate-length runs to evaluate wear and gather data not so much for the upcoming weekend, where C4 will not be present, but for the rest of the season. The Maranello team will also appear with 19 sets of C3, 4 of C2, and 2 of C1.
Mercedes takes a more extreme approach, being the team with the highest number of C3 sets across the entire grid, a total of 25. It is clear that the work program of the Brackley team will focus on a flexible compound present at every event of the championship. On the other hand, there are only 2 sets of C1 and 2 of C2, the hardest compounds, along with 4 sets of C4 and 2 of C5, to be used in cooler hours.
Interesting choices are also made by McLaren, Aston Martin, and Alpine. The Woking and Enstone teams have decided not to request any sets of C5 and C4, compounds not selected by Pirelli for the race weekend, focusing exclusively on the other three compounds.
Even the Silverstone team has followed the same approach, although they will still appear with two sets of soft tires, realistically giving their drivers the opportunity to understand the car’s behavior with a compound that provides more grip.
The choices of the ten teams for the tests in Bahrain:
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