The Australian Grand Prix noticed groups battle from tyre graining on lengthy runs with Ferrari and McLaren having surprisingly mastered the uncommon challenges the finest. F1Technical’s Balázs Szabó delivers his strategy evaluation after the Melbourne spherical.
The opening two rounds of the 2024 F1 season, the Bahrain and the Saudi Arabian Grands Prix noticed Pirelli convey 4 compounds from the tougher finish of its tyre vary. By distinction, Round 3 of the season noticed the softest compound make its debut in 2024. It meant that drivers had the C5 compound at their disposal alongside the C4 and C3 compounds that shall be used at virtually each spherical this season.
Last weekend’s tyre alternative was a softer choice in comparison with final 12 months, when the C2, C3, and C4 had been chosen, nevertheless it’s not the first time that the softest compound has been seen in Melbourne. Back in 2022, Pirelli introduced the C5 to Albert Park as the smooth nomination (when it was paired with C3 as medium and C2 as onerous, leaving out the C4).
Pirelli indicated that “the decision to go with a softer selection was taken after analysing last year’s race, which centred around the C2 with 10 drivers using it for 47 of the 58 laps, and three drivers running it for more than 50 laps.”
All three compounds chosen by Pirelli for this Grand Prix had been in use on the beginning grid: 14 drivers went for the Medium, three (Hamilton, Ricciardo and Zhou) opted for the Soft and two (Alonso and Hulkenberg) the Hard. As predicted the hottest strategy was the two-stop, working Medium-Hard-Hard. Ocon was the solely driver to make three stops however that was compelled on him by the have to make a really early first pit cease to take away a visor tear-off from a brake duct.
Among the prime ten, the Mercedes group elected to name in its drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell early which triggered a large domino impact. To shield their positions from Russell, McLaren and Ferrari referred to as in Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc respectively a lap later. By distinction, Lando Norris and Sergio Perez stayed out for 5 extra laps, working in direction of an offset strategy which normally places the driver behind in a beneficial place by giving him a bonus to catch as much as the driver forward.
With Carlos Sainz having managed his tyres throughout his opening stint brilliantly, the Spaniard was in a position to prolong his first stint, build up a strategic benefit for the remainder of the races. It isn’t any shock that Sainz was the final one from the prime drivers to finish his second stint as his offset strategy allowed him to watch his rivals, pit after them to have the freshest tyres for the closing phases of the race.
Interestingly, the Aston Martin group continued its custom of scrubbing in the onerous tyres which meant that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll didn’t have any new units for the 58-lap Melbourne race. The Silverstone-based outfit is reported to comply with this apply to place a warmth cycle in the tyres so they do not overheat in the race.
Pirelli’s Director of Motorsport Mario Isola commented: “As for the race, it confirmed that our determination to convey a trio of softer compounds right here in comparison with final 12 months was the proper one. Today’s race was busier in comparison with latest years, with tyre administration making the distinction.
“For example, one of the keys to Sainz’s success was the ability to lengthen the first stint on the Mediums, which then gave him the edge over his closest pursuers, as the two sets of Hards he used in the second and third stints were fresher. Carlos was able to drive a good part of his first stint with a clear track ahead of him, while his team-mate for example was in traffic, sandwiched between the two McLarens. All the same, Leclerc managed to overtake Norris precisely because he had stopped first and was able to better exploit the performance of new Hard tyres in the opening laps of his second stint.”
After making the briefest of appearances in FP3, just for scrubbing-in functions, the C3 was the hottest alternative, used for nearly 80% of the race distance by the 19 drivers on observe with this compound. Graining continued to be an necessary issue and, as anticipated, this phenomenon didn’t diminish though it was a lot hotter than in earlier days and on a observe that received more and more rubbered-in. Significant graining was additionally evident on the Hard which was by no means used on the first two days, however however it was manageable.
“In general, graining was the leitmotif of the weekend, but it was not problematic in terms of tyre performance and in the end, those who did the better job of managing them had the upper hand,” Isola stated.
In phrases of stint size, George Russell’s second stint ran to 37 laps on the C3 which turned the longest stint on the Hard compound. The finest lap was registered by Leclerc who posted a 1m19.813s, scoring the extra level for the quickest race lap.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso accomplished the longest stint on the yellow-banded rubber with a 24-lap run. Carlos Sainz posted the quickest lap with a 1m21.715s on Lap 10 which turned out to be the quickest C4 lap.
The smooth compound was hardly used throughout the Australian Grand Prix, however three drivers – Lewis Hamilton, Zhou Guanyu and Daniel Ricciardo – elected to start out on the C5 tyre. The Australian ran to five laps, the Chinese to six laps and the Briton carried out a seven-lap stint on the red-banded tyres. The seven-time world champion posted the quickest lap on the C5 with a time of 1m23.070s.
Source link
