The seventh round of the 2021 Formula One has been heavily influenced by the management of Pirelli tires and above all by graining. The rain that fell in the morning and the lower temperatures lead to a change of the values seen over the weekend. The situation, however, obviously cannot be summarized only through a simple consideration, so today, in our journey, we will try to examine all the aspects that could have led, especially for Ferrari, to show a performance level below expectations. As usual, we will proceed by taking one step at a time.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) managed to win the French Grand Prix after regaining the lead one lap before the checkered flag, thanks to an unusual two-stop strategy. First stint on Yellow Medium, second on White Hard and then again on Medium. The Dutchman was also the only driver in the leading group to carry out this type of strategy. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) had managed to take the lead in the first corner, but when Verstappen made his second stop he chose to stay out and focus on the one-pit tactic: Medium-Hard. The same used by most drivers. The other, in addition to Verstappen, who made two stops was Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari, who finished 16th.
Most of the drivers, including the first on the grid, opted for a start on Medium tires. Only the two of Aston Martin, together with those of Alfa Romeo, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Nikita Mazepin (Haas) have chosen to use Hard compounds. No one has instead adopted the Soft in the race. The top eight finishers all started with Medium compound tires, while Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) was the best-ranked driver among those adopting the Hard compound at the start. Vettel did an opening stint of 37 laps on a white stripe tire, before switching to Medium and finishing the race ninth ahead of his teammate who chose the same strategy.
Temperatures were noticeably cooler than the previous two days. The rain that had fallen in the morning dried in time for the race, but it cleaned the surface. While the ambient temperature remained around 27 ° C, the track temperature dropped to around 37 ° C: almost 15 degrees lower than in free practice and qualifying.
Before starting to talk about Sunday tactics it is right to remember the definition of the phenomenon that conditioned the race and the consequent result. Graining occurs on tires due to high stress. It generally occurs in dirty or non-rubberized track conditions and with rather low ambient temperatures. One of the most common reasons that leads to front graining is the use of an improperly balanced set-up which produces understeer and the consequent sliding of the car.
With these words Mario Isola, in the past, had himself given an explanation of the phenomenon: “Graining generally tends to be triggered in the first phase of use of tires, when they are heavily stressed before reaching the optimal temperature conditions. The too cold rubber surface fails to provide the required grip and slips, causing abrasion between the compound and the asphalt. In this way, curls of compound are formed on the tread which accelerate wear and degradation”.
Now that we have the ‘manual’ definition, let’s look for similarities with what happened yesterday. In the morning it had rained with the track that underwent a reset in terms of tires. This could be the factor that contributed most to the triggering of the phenomenon together with the temperatures that were 15 ° C lower than in previous weekend sessions. However, these two evidences are not sufficient to allow us to say that exactly these were the triggers.
Why do we say this? The answer is quite simple. In Imola, for example, the second round of the 2021 Formula 1 season, we had even more adverse weather conditions than these. The Italian race started in the wet and then ended in the dry. The track temperatures in this circumstance stood at around 17 ° C under the initial rain. Tires used on the occasion of the Made in Italy GP: the same as yesterday in France, namely Hard C2, Medium C3, Soft C4. However, no one has complained of graining problems in Italy.
But then what could it have depended on? Certainly the dirtier track and the drop in temperature had an impact, but it must have been aggravated by the choice made by the teams in terms of set-up. Charles Leclerc, for example, had already admitted at the end of qualifying on Saturday that he was unable to maximize his performance in qualifying due to the too much understeering behavior of the SF21. The car continued to show this attitude even in the race and it is no coincidence that we can identify Charles as the driver who suffered the most from tire wear yesterday.
However, Ferrari was not the only one to suffer from this phenomenon. Almost all of the drivers had to work overtime in terms of tire management yesterday. Unfortunately, the SF21 drivers are the ones who paid the highest price. The French Grand Prix was compromised by the tires also for Carlos Sainz Jr who, however, at least manages to survive and reach a more dignified result than his teammate even if still out of the points zone. Among those, on the other hand, who were less affected by graining, we find the Red Bull cars, Lando Norris with McLaren and the two Aston Martin cars.
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