For the 2023 season, Formula 1 and Pirelli have decided to make various changes to the sporting regulations with the aim of optimizing as much as possible the transport of materials and the number of sets of tires used during the race weekend. Among these innovations there is also a new qualifying format, which will be tested in two rounds of this championship to evaluate its feasibility before a possible full-time introduction in the coming years.
On a traditional weekend, each driver is given thirteen sets of tires, which include two sets of hards, three sets of mediums and eight sets of softs. With the experimental qualifying system, not only will the total number of sets for each driver change, from thirteen to eleven, but also their distribution: there will be three sets of hard, four mediums and four softs for the whole Imola weekend. This will save two sets of tyres, with the plan being to have six sets of tires available for qualifying and five to manage between free practice and the race.
Furthermore, the initiative imposes the use of the hard compound in the Q1 session, the medium in Q2 and the soft in Q3, with the softer compound which can only be used in the last phase of qualifying. As anticipated by several news outlets last March, the first venue of the new experimental format will be Imola during the weekend of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, scheduled towards the end of May.
The official confirmation came from Pirelli, which also announced its intention to bring tires one step softer than those used last season to the Italian appointment, passing from a C2-C3-C4 combination to the C3-C4-C5 line-up.
“Softer tires were chosen for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix due to the low severity of the circuit and the limited wear seen on the tires last year. The C3 is the P Zero White hard, the C4 is the P Zero Yellow medium and the C5 is the P Zero Red soft,” explained the Italian manufacturer.
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“A new qualifying format will also take place at Imola, with only one compound used in each [qualifying] session. In Q1 only the hard will be available, Q2 will use only the medium, while the soft will be only for Q3. This “Alternative Tire Allocation”, which will also be used in another race weekend this year after Imola, reduces the total tire allocation for each car from thirteen sets to eleven per weekend.
On the occasion of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the new Full Wet tires will also make their debut, the new extreme rain tires that do not need to be heated in the electric blankets before taking to the track.
Among the most skeptical about the experimental format is the reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, who has expressed his critical opinion regarding any modification of the popular format in use for over 15 years.
One of the elements brought to light by Max Verstappen concerns the use of the harder compounds in Q1, which could prove quite complicated given a slower warm-up phase, especially in cold conditions: “I hope it won’t be cold at Imola, otherwise it will be very difficult” said the Dutchman – “It’s the same for everyone, but I don’t think it’s necessary to do this kind of thing in qualifying. I don’t see the benefits. It’s better to make sure all the cars are close together and more competitive, instead of spicing things up like this, which I think is probably for show.”
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