F1 News
Tyre strategy GP Austria | One-stop seems to be the fastest choice
Tyre management at the Austrian Grand Prix will be extremely important on a circuit that demands a lot from the tyres. Pirelli predicts that the race will be dominated by one-stops. However, the likelihood of a safety car could make for a different strategy.
According to Pirelli, the fastest strategy is a stint on the mediums until lap 24-32 and then a switch to the hard tyre until the end of the race. Drivers who start on hard tyres can drive longer and then switch to mediums. Drivers starting from the back of the field will mainly opt for this strategy, according to the tyre supplier.
Pirelli also gives the option to start on hard tyres and drive on them until lap 46-54. Drivers can then switch to the soft tyre in the closing stages of the race, but this strategy is a big gamble due to tyre management. The high-speed circuit in Spielberg is very demanding on tyres.
Under normal circumstances, a two-stopper is always slower, but the best way to execute this strategy is to use all three compounds. As the likelihood of a safety car is quite high at the Red Bull Ring, this could influence the strategy.
Tyres available during the Austrian GP
Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc all have two new sets of hard tyres and mediums. In addition, the Red Bull drivers and Sainz have three used sets of the soft tyres left. Leclerc is the only one of the four who only has two at his disposal. Lewis Hamilton has another set of new soft tyres, as do the men from McLaren, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri.
These are the race tyre sets available for the #AustrianGP!
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"The teams were able to get some useful long run data on the medium during the sprint: good information for the race, which looks likely to be a medium to hard one-stopper, as also confirmed by the performance of the tyres today. Both compounds performed well, with the medium being the more conservative choice that made it the most popular option for the sprint this afternoon", Pirelli boss Mario Isola says on the website of the tyre supplier.
