On the final day of the Miami weekend, Pirelli has released the recommended race strategies for the Miami GP.
After yesterday’s Sprint, the field’s values and possible race strategies begin to take shape. The 19 laps of the race gave a first idea of the duration of the coverings, with the various teams working to arrive at today’s GP with the ideal sets to complete the 57 laps scheduled. Let’s now see the race strategies proposed by Pirelli for the Miami GP scheduled to take place later today.
In yesterday’s Sprint, we got to discover the first cards on the race pace of the various teams, with Red Bull with Verstappen still proving to be the reference point. However, the advantage of the RB20 seems to be much smaller compared to other stages, with Leclerc’s Ferrari trailing by just over a tenth. Values that bode well for today’s GP, where tire management will be fundamental.
In the various radio communications during the Sprint Race, some drivers complained of rear overheating, with the cars sliding. One of the causes is certainly the track temperature, which exceeded 47 degrees. Despite the high temperatures, the drivers managed to maintain a fairly constant and indicative pace for a crucial phase of the race. Based on the pace maintained in the Sprint, the times are very indicative for the second part of the race, with the fuel tank getting closer and closer to the minimum refill level. For now, the weather forecasts do not announce precipitation, and the perceived temperatures are lower than in previous days.
Ferrari is ready to challenge Max Verstappen in Florida. The Miami race promises to be a low-management one, even less so than the 2023 edition, when graining was the limiting factor. This offers the teams the opportunity to extend or anticipate the pit stop, a strategic tool useful for trying to gain positions over rivals. We spoke about this with Simone Berra, Chief Engineer at Pirelli.
Engineer Berra, what feedback emerged from Saturday’s race?
“We learned a lot from the Sprint. The medium performed very well, with low degradation on all the drivers who used it. At the beginning of the weekend, we expected much more graining, but the tires were very clean yesterday. The right front was the most critical tire last year, but after the Sprint, it showed very few abrasions. The medium is a fairly solid tire that allows pushing, although on longer stints, it will still need some management. What surprised us instead is the soft tire, tested only by Sargeant and Tsunoda. In terms of times, it was in line with the medium tire, and Yuki still managed to score points. The soft can be a race tire and, like the medium, did not suffer from graining”.
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What are the most plausible strategies?
“As in the last two years, we expect it to be a one-stop race, but with the variable of less graining, which simplifies things. On paper, the fastest strategy is to use the medium for 15-20 laps, then switch to the harder compound. For those starting behind, the alternative could be to start with the hard tire, go longer, even up to 35-40 laps, then switch to the medium. However, someone could also start with the soft, given its performance in the Sprint. In that case, an early stop would be needed after 10-16 laps, then go to the end with the hard tire, to get out of traffic and travel freely. The last option is to always start with the hard tire but switch to the soft for the last 15 laps with little fuel and a more rubbered track.”
It seems that the overcut could be more effective than the early stop…
“In our opinion, that’s how it is. Having a tire with few laps left at the end of the race should give an advantage. More than the undercut, the overcut here can be a weapon. I also add that the choice of compounds could be influenced by the asphalt temperatures. If we were to have cloudy cover, the asphalt could drop by 10°C compared to yesterday, pushing the teams towards softer compounds. I do not exclude that someone may want to try a more aggressive strategy with medium-soft or soft-medium. In terms of wear, the two compounds together would cover the race distance, but there are still some doubts about performance”.
Could graining reappear in case of lower ambient temperatures?
“In past years, graining was caused by overheating and the low roughness of the asphalt, which was very smooth. These two aspects combined tended to make the tire slide a lot and tear it. However, this year, the roughness of the asphalt has improved thanks to surface treatment, increasing by 30-40%. Therefore, we do not expect graining to become a factor again. Also, the track will rubber in more and more, so we do not believe that graining can come back, not even with lower temperatures”.
In both qualifiers, all drivers complained of great difficulties in managing sliding and tire temperatures throughout the lap. What happened?
“The asphalt is significantly different from last year when it was just laid, and there was still a lot of bitumen. This year, the roughness has increased, reducing adhesive grip. Also, in qualifying, asphalt temperatures were higher this year, 49°C compared to 42° in 2023. All these factors disadvantaged the soft compound. We calculated an advantage of the soft over the medium of just 2 tenths, while from our pre-event simulations, we expected 6-7 tenths of a difference. The soft tire is more unpredictable and gives less confidence. We know it behaves very peaky, with a narrow operating window, characteristics that are emphasized by this circuit”.
“We have seen that the softer compound can even vary its behavior from corner to corner. There are corners where you are in the ideal usage window, but maybe you tend to overdo it and slide a bit, increasing surface temperatures and leading you to slide again at the next corner. When you have this sliding effect, a vicious circle is triggered. It is not a problem of tire grip throughout the lap. There have been occasions where the soft was slower than the medium in the first sector, then cooled down on the straight and returned to performance in the slower section. The soft tire was very difficult to manage throughout the lap. In qualifying, therefore, you had to try not to overdo it and avoid sliding to stay within the usage window”.
Can we say that in this context, the most drivable cars have emerged, and they are better able to stabilize the tires?
“Surely, we have seen that the cars more gentle on the tires, therefore Red Bull and Ferrari, have maintained a
more constant performance compared to other cars like Mercedes, which were more inconsistent from one attempt to another. Values have emerged of who is better able to extract the grip peak from the C4 compared to those who instead need a wider window to better exploit the tire”.
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