Tyre analysis: two-stop strategy at the Japanese Grand Prix

The Japanese Grand Prix didn’t fail to ship what was anticipated after Friday’s future simulations: excessive thermal degradation and a number of cease strategy. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó analyses the methods at the Suzuka race.

Following the Singapore Grand Prix that noticed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz take his and his crew’s first win in 2023, Max Verstappen bounced again in Suzuka, dominating the Japanese Grand Prix from begin to end. Thanks to the Dutchman’s forty eighth win, Red Bull clinched its sixth Constructors’ World Championship title, with six Grands Prix nonetheless remaining this season. The Milton Keynes squad is now additionally positive of taking the Drivers’ crown as solely Sergio Perez can theoretically cease Verstappen from choosing up his third title.

For the difficult, figure-of-eight Suzuka International monitor, Pirelli introduced three compounds from the more durable finish of its six-compound vary with the C1 serving as the Hard, the C2 as the Medium and the C3 as the Soft compound. The Milan-based outfit additionally mandated comparatively excessive minimal beginning pressures with a purpose to keep away from any tyre points on a monitor that’s recognized for its elongated, high-speed corners.

Pirelli anticipated that the two-stop strategy would change into the most well-liked strategy at the Japanese Grand Prix based mostly on all the knowledge that was gathered on Friday. The Milan-based tyre provider discovered the Suzuka monitor to be slightly smoother than it has been in the previous which led to extra sliding. This meant that thermal degradation was increased than anticipated on a weekend which was hotter than standard at the time of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Ambient temperatures had been 29.2 Celsius levels at the begin of the race with monitor temperatures measured at barely above 41.0 Celsius levels. Ambient and monitor temperatures dropped to 27.1 and 36.2 Celsius levels respectively for the dying phases of the race.

How did methods unfold?

For the begin, 13 drivers went with the Medium for the first stint, seven for the Soft. Apart from those that needed to quickly change their plans due to collisions in the opening moments of the race, it was clear to see that the nice majority of drivers had opted for a two-stop strategy, making the most effective use of the units of tyres obtainable.

The first lap collisions make comparability barely troublesome, however disregarding the first-lap tyre adjustments, twelve of the 15 drivers who accomplished the full race distance carried out a double-stop strategy. Zhou Guanyu went into the pits on three events, however he accomplished his first cease on the first lap following a conflict at the begin, which successfully makes his strategy a two-stopper.

In reality, solely two drivers went for a one-stop strategy. George Russell did an excellent job of managing his Medium set from the begin which prompted his crew to gamble with a single-stop strategy in the hope of gaining positions in his battle together with his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. After his preliminary 24-lap stint on the medium compound, the one-time F1 race winner used the Hard for no fewer than 29 laps throughout his second stint.

The different driver who blended issues up with a single cease was Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. The French racer visited the pit lane twice throughout the race, however his first cease occurred on the opening lap, and after that, he accomplished the remaining 52 lap of the whole of 53 race lap by stopping solely as soon as. The one-time race winner prolonged his first “real” stint till Lap 28, finishing 27 laps on the white-walled hards earlier than switching for an additional set of arduous compound for his final stint.

There was one other outliner when it comes to strategy as nicely. Struggling with tyre degradation all throughout the season, Haas opted to present Nico Hulkenberg a three-stop strategy. The German driver began the race on the red-walled smooth tyres earlier than switching to the medium on Lap 8. He made the change to the Hard following a 13-lap stint earlier than performing his final stint on the yellow-walled mediums.

A complete of 43 pit stops had been carried out with Ferrari having dominated the pit cease efficiency in Suzuka. The Scuderia modified Charles Leclerc’s tyres inside 2.23s which turned the quickest pit cease at the Japanese Grand Prix. The second-fastest tyre change additionally belonged to Ferrari with 2.30s required to service Carlos Sainz throughout his first cease for contemporary tyres.

How did every compound carry out?

George Russell was the driver who carried out the longest stint on the white-walled C1 compound, racking up a complete of 29 laps throughout his second and final stint en path to his one-stop strategy. Verstappen clocked in the quickest lap on this compound, posting a 1m34.183s on the second lap of his final and third stint with this lap turning into the quickest race lap yesterday.

The longest stint on the medium belonged to George Russell as nicely. The British driver began the 53-lap Japanese Grand Prix on the yellow-banded tyre and prolonged his first stint till Lap 24. Race winner Verstappen recorded the quickest C2 lap with a 1m36.748 on Lap 5 of the race.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu coated the longest distance on the identical set of softs, finishing a 19-lap stint on the red-banded compound. His finest effort of 1m39.106s turned the quickest lap on the smooth tyres yesterday.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Mario Isola commented: “First and foremost, I need to congratulate Red Bull for his or her achievement in taking their sixth Constructors’ title in addition to guaranteeing that solely Max or Sergio can now take the Drivers’ crown. The crew led by Christian Horner is making its mark on the present Formula 1 period, beating all the data and this wonderful result’s nicely deserved.

“The Suzuka monitor is certainly one of the hardest on tyres and this 12 months we noticed increased temperatures than standard which elevated the calls for on them. This afternoon, every part went as we had anticipated and all three obtainable compounds had been used, thus making a state of affairs the place we noticed a number of completely different methods between the groups and drivers. After learning the knowledge from free follow, we reckoned {that a} two-stop strategy was the quickest and that was confirmed.

“Those who tried one thing completely different, Russell for instance, needed to give finest in the closing phases to their two-stopping rivals. Compared to Friday, we noticed that the Medium was the most used, even when the distinction when it comes to degradation when in comparison with the Soft, additionally right now, was not that large. Clearly the C2 provided better flexibility when it comes to administration and that’s why the majority of drivers opted to begin with it.”