Pirelli explains: Mercedes and Red Bull can challenge each other with strategy

On Friday, the tyre wear rate at the Circuit Of The Americas was found to be extremely high and the bumps on the American circuit will make maintaining the tyres a hugely difficult task for the drivers. Pirelli therefore expects a two-stop result to be more than logical for the teams.

The fastest strategy is to start on the yellow mediums, which eight of the top ten drivers will do, and then drive two stints on the hardest tyre. According to the Italian tyre supplier, it is just as fast to drive the last stint on the yellow tyre, but then you have to drive longer on the first two sets. For the drivers on the red tyre the quickest option is to drive the white tyre twice after their stint on the softest tyre.

With his first lap in Q2 taken on mediums, Sergio Perez is the only driver from the top teams with a different tyre selection. Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas all have the same tyre choice left and can also go for different strategic options. With Perez, Red Bull Racing could possibly go for a bold one-stopper, but that would be a big risk in terms of the constructors' championship.