The last Sprint of the 2023 Formula 1 season, held yesterday at the Interlagos circuit, highlighted the teams’ tire management skills. To tackle the 24 laps prescribed by the regulations (100 km), most of the drivers opted to use the Soft C4 compound. Only the two Haas cars and Sargeant’s Williams chose the Medium C3 compound. Among those who chose the red-banded tire, there’s another distinction to be made. The majority of drivers relied on a used set for the mini-race, while Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Bottas, and Zhou used a new set.
Despite making the same choice, the leading cars displayed very different behaviors. The two Red Bull cars and Lando Norris, even though they also complained about tire degradation, managed to maintain a consistent and competitive pace throughout the race (Lando finished in second place, 4.3 seconds behind Max). In contrast, Mercedes and Ferrari rapidly suffered from tire issues, resulting in a gap of more than 25 seconds. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton started with an aggressive pace but paid for it in the end. Lewis dropped from the 3rd position he secured in the early stages to 7th. George, who was 2nd in the very early laps, managed to limit the damage and finished 4th.
The Ferrari SF-23 cars had a more anonymous race, mainly battling with the AlphaTauris. Charles Leclerc had to manage the engine from the start, but then when he could potentially push harder towards the end, his pace was restricted due to excessive Soft tire degradation. The Monegasque driver finished 5th, taking advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s problems, while Carlos Sainz finished 8th.
Pirelli’s Strategic Advice – Interlagos Circuit – 71 laps
Before discussing possible strategies for today’s race, let’s consider the comment made by Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director, at the end of the Sprint in the official columns of the tire manufacturer: “For the race, we expect temperatures to be in line with what we saw in the Sprint, so the data collected will be very useful in defining the strategies. The double pit stop is clearly the most valid option, with a mix of Soft and Medium tires. Based on what we saw in the mini-race, the Soft tire has certainly proven usable for fairly long stints; the key will be to find the right compromise.”
The tire manufacturer’s recommended strategies (Pirelli)
“A three-stop option should not be excluded,” continues the Italian manager as he approaches his conclusion. “Even though it’s not the fastest choice on paper, for those who want to push more without worrying too much about tire management on a track where overtaking is possible in different sections, it might be the right choice. Finally, it should be noted that here the undercut can be very effective.” – the Pirelli boss explained, ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Soft tire is for few, but everyone will use it
Of course, the title is provocative. We certainly don’t have absolute certainty that all drivers will use the Soft compound, but we can say with a slight margin of error that the C4 compound will be one of the most commonly used in the race. Although it showed high degradation in yesterday’s Sprint due to the track layout and high temperatures (which will be similar today), overtaking is not as difficult on the São Paulo circuit, and teams might prefer an additional pit stop rather than engaging in tire management with the harder compounds.
The double pit stop S-M-M or M-S-S strategies will likely be popular. For those who suffered more from Soft tire degradation during yesterday’s Sprint, a start on Medium tires might be advised to extend the initial stint as much as possible, and then opt for the better-suited compounds to complete the race.
If they manage to cover between 25-30 laps with the yellow tires, an M-M-S strategy could work well to have around 15-20 laps on the red-banded compound (71 laps expected). However, teams like Red Bull and McLaren that didn’t have many tire management issues might start on Soft tires and implement an S-M-S strategy.
It’s hard to say exactly how it will go, but even though Charles Leclerc starts in second place behind Max Verstappen, it could turn out to be a very long race for Scuderia Ferrari.
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