F1 News

What tyre strategies can we expect at the Circuit Paul Ricard?

What tyre strategies can we expect at the Circuit Paul Ricard?

14-06-2021 19:15 Last update: 21:05

GPblog.com

After two exciting races on street circuits the next race will be held on a conventional race track. Circuit Paul Ricard is everything that Monaco and Baku were not: big run-off areas, fast corners and no walls.

Hopefully some peace for Pirelli

After the race in Baku, the talk was almost all about Pirelli and who was responsible for the major crashes of Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen. As the French Grand Prix will be held on a normal circuit again the problems for Pirelli in France will hopefully not be as bad. In any case, the Italian tyre manufacturer will bring the same compounds as during the last race held at Paul Ricard.

"We are going back to the combination of tyres that were also used in the first two races of this year, we are in the middle of the available spectrum," said Pirelli F1 frontman Mario Isola, as quoted by Motorsport.com. "This is the most versatile combination that fits the requirements. That also makes our tyres a good match for Paul Ricard, a circuit with an interesting mix of corners."

One-stop

Looking at the 2019 race, we saw that most teams went for a one-stop pit strategy. Isola expects this to remain the same for the next race. "In France we will stick to the tyre choice of the previous French Grand Prix, which resulted in a one-stopper for most drivers. We saw some variation in those one-stoppers, by the way, and that can make for diverse strategies."