Mandatory Qualifying Tires: Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen express discontent. Mandatory Qualifying Tires.

Experimental format ‘unappetizing’ for Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc
After Hungary, the second experiment regarding the compulsory tire compounds in the three Qualifying sessions took place at Monza, where the hard compound was used in Q1, the medium in Q2, and the soft in Q3. Limits had already emerged in Hungary, especially in the free practice sessions, where teams and drivers were essentially forced to follow the same work program and, above all, limit their mileage over the three sessions to save tire sets for Qualifying.

Max Verstappen explained at the press conference after the 2023 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying that, from his perspective, this experimental format has no merits; in fact, “For me, it’s not necessary,” were his words. “It doesn’t change anything. The fastest cars are still the ones that stay ahead, and usually, the fastest cars on the harder compounds increase their advantage even more over the others, so it probably makes things worse for the teams further back in the field.”

Charles Leclerc agrees with Verstappen, especially because the mandatory tire selection in Qualifying affects the weekend’s preparation: “I don’t like this format very much. Q1, Q2, and Q3 are fine, but the free practice sessions are not great. I don’t like it.” Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, is divided. He finds Qualifying exciting from his perspective, but Friday and Saturday morning are affected by the need to conserve tires for Qualifying: “I think FP1, FP2, and FP3 are impacted by this format because you can’t experiment enough, and you’re also forced to stay in the pits longer than necessary. In Qualifying, honestly, I like it. The progression from hard to medium to soft is nice; I have to adapt, find grip. Improvisation becomes an important skill. For the rest of the weekend, I wish we could race more and have more tires; from Q1 onwards, I like it.”