As the cars prepare to take to the track for the Mexican GP weekend, Pirelli presents the strategies and tire compounds chosen for the 20th round of the championship. Sergio Perez’s home GP will be the 20th race of the 2024 Formula 1 season before moving on to Interlagos for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Compared to last year’s edition, there is a major change. “The available tires are the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium, and the C5 as Soft. One step softer than before, as was the case last year, a decision made to open up more strategic options for the race.”
The Mexican weekend has been chosen to work with a view to 2025. Thus, FP2 will be organized to provide 90 minutes, allowing evaluation of the tires Pirelli will use next season. For this reason, teams will have just two hours to prepare their cars for qualifying and the race: FP1 on Friday and FP3 on Saturday.
“The Hermanos Rodriguez track is 4.304 km long, with 17 corners and a surface that is not too demanding on the tires. For this edition, the section between Turns 12 and 15 in the third sector has been resurfaced. The very smooth asphalt and the fact that the track is not used much mean that grip levels will be quite low at the start of the weekend and track evolution will be significant.” – Pirelli explains.
“Mexico City is over 2000 meters above sea level, and the thin air affects car performance. One consequence is that top speeds reached are very high. The surface temperature of the tires tends to drop rather quickly, and drivers need to be very careful under braking, especially at Turn 1, to avoid locking the wheels and damaging the tires.”
The recommended strategy will likely be a one-stop, as it was last year. Starting on the Medium tires and then switching to the Hard ones is expected, with an effort to extend the first stint of the race as much as possible.
Source: f1ingenerale
Leave a Reply