One could almost travel from Earth to the Moon if they followed the imaginary road connecting our planet to its only satellite, using only the Pirelli tires employed in the 24 Grands Prix of the longest season in Formula 1 history. A total of 334,942.175 kilometers were covered, equivalent to 65,534 laps, from the first free practice session in Bahrain to the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi, which is 94% of the 356,500 kilometers that separate us from the Moon at perigee.
The distance covered has physiologically increased compared to 2023, as two additional Grands Prix were held (Emilia-Romagna and China): the extra kilometers amounted to 27,016.375. The percentage of kilometers completed on slick tires remained almost unchanged (93.59%): slightly more were covered with Cinturato Intermediate tires (from 5.67% to 5.84%, totaling 19,566.862 km), while the percentage of Cinturato Extreme Wet tires decreased (from 0.64% to 0.57%).
Among the slick tires, the biggest share was taken by the C3, with 107,381.319 kilometers, although this was a decrease (from 36.57% to 32.06%) in percentage terms compared to last year. The position of the C4 remained unchanged (23.47%) as the second most used compound, while the C5 overtook the C2 for third place (16.84% vs. 14.97%), with the C1 still at the bottom of the ranking in 2024 (5.56%).
This data was also influenced by the decision to select a softer compound trio for two races, Melbourne and Interlagos, changing from the C2-C3-C4 combination to the C3-C4-C5.
Added to the total distance were the kilometers covered with prototypes (2,306.944), which decreased compared to last year. In 2024, they were only used during the in-competition test in Mexico City, while last year they were used during Friday free practices at three weekends (Barcelona, Suzuka, and Mexico City).
The record for the longest race segment completed with the same set of tires was held by Pierre Gasly, who, with Alpine in Baku, covered 300.150 kilometers (50 laps) with the same set of C3 tires, selected as Hard for that Grand Prix.
The record for consecutive kilometers with the same set of C2 tires went to Charles Leclerc (265.525 km, 43 laps) in Jeddah, for the C4 it went to George Russell (256.949 km, 77 laps) in Monaco, for the C1 it went to Nico Hulkenberg (242.763 km, 57 laps) in Zandvoort, and for the C5 it went to Yuki Tsunoda, who covered 141.820 kilometers consecutively in Singapore, equivalent to 28 laps.
The Japanese driver of Racing Bulls also holds the record for the most kilometers with a single set of intermediate tires (191.844 km), set in Montreal, while Liam Lawson, his teammate at the end of the season, covered more kilometers than anyone else (81.871) with the same set of Extreme Wet tires.
In total, Pirelli provided 8,016 sets of tires. Of these, 2,718 were never used. The application of the “strip-and-fit” process to the wet extreme and intermediate tires, which allows the re-use of unused tires at other events, saved the production of about 3,500 individual tires in 2024.
There were 935 (11.66%) sets of slick tires that, once mounted on the rims, never touched the asphalt. Additionally, 948 sets (11.82%) completed one to three laps: most of these were used in qualifying or timed lap simulations, but the issue of more efficient tire usage during the race weekend remains on the table.
Of all the Grands Prix in 2024, the Japanese Grand Prix had the most tire changes: 46 pit stops were made at Suzuka. On the contrary, the race with the fewest tire changes was Jeddah, with 19 stops. However, the Sunday with the least action in the pit lane was the Monaco Grand Prix. The red flag on the first lap allowed all drivers to make the mandatory tire change during the interruption, with only seven more actual pit stops during the rest of the race.
The hottest race of the year – at least in terms of air temperature – was won by Interlagos, with 35.6°C on race day. On the opposite side, the coolest weekend was at Silverstone, with a low of 10.9°C, rising to 13.9°C during the race.
In terms of asphalt, there were some confirmations and new developments compared to 2023: the hottest asphalt was at the Hungaroring with 58.6°C, although in the race, Imola stood out with 52.5°C, while the coldest was at Silverstone (12.8°C), and in the race, Las Vegas took the lead with 16.8°C.
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