Pirelli say tyre strategy will be "key to success" in Sochi

Pirelli boss Mario Isola believes that tyre strategies will have an important role to play in this weekend's Russian Grand Prix, especially considering the Italian manufacturer has brought harder tyres to Sochi than last year.

Pirelli have brought the C2, C3 and C4 tyres to Russia this year and with Ferrari in red hot form, they may be the favourites to take the win here, although Mercedes have won every single race since the track was added to the calendar, with Lewis Hamilton winning three of the five events.

Only the Mercedes duo have altered from the tyre choices of the other top three teams, both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas forgoing a soft tyre, with Hamilton taking an extra medium and Bottas an extra hard.

Isola said: “With Russia now re-established in its autumn date, having moved back to this slot last year, it’s going to be interesting to see what has changed compared to 2018.

“We’re bring tyres from the middle of the range this year – a step harder than last year – which should be well-adapted to a wide variety of conditions.

“Anticipating the set-up and tyre strategy with regard to the changing requirements of the track will be one of the keys to success in Sochi.”