Here we are. There are just a few hours left before the start of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc leaves front to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. To make the difference, in a race where Red Bull is the favorite, they may be the safety cars and, as always, the strategies. In this regard, let's discover Pirelli's notes for the fourth round of the season.
Pirelli's strategy notes
The single stop strategy results, from the simulations, fastest for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Starting with the P Zero Yellow medium, teams could make a pit stop between laps thirteen and eighteen and mount the P Zero White hard until the end of the race. Turns out less fast the solution it provides the P Zero Red soft when the lights go out and the change to the Hard between the eighth and thirteenth lap. Drivers who opt for this solution will have to manage the harder compound in the best possible way, taking into consideration the possible increase in tyres temperature.
Possible two stops?
The strategies a two stops, slower on paper but likely in case of neutralization of the race, both foresee the departure on Medium. The first option considers a switch to another set of Averages between the tenth and fifteenth laps and a final stint on the harder compounds between the twenty-fifth and thirty-third laps. If at the first pit stop the teams wanted to use a set of Hards right away, they would have to bring the first stop forward between laps eight and thirteen and the second stop window would shorten from laps twenty-seven to thirty-third.
Isola: "Some teams have collected more information for the race"
In this regard, the words of the head of the Motorsport technical area of Pirelli, Mario Isola, were not lacking: “In the Sprint, as expected, some teams who perhaps thought they didn't have a great chance of scoring points took advantage of the 17 laps of the mini-race to try two different compounds and thus gather additional information in view of tomorrow's Grand Prix”.
On the race strategy
“From our point of view, the first data analyzes indicate that a one-stop strategy is the most popular option, with the Medium-Hard mix as the most plausible choice. Eighteen out of twenty drivers will have two sets of Hards available, which will also allow them to take advantage of any neutralizations, which are absolutely predictable on this street circuit, as was seen both in the Formula 2 Sprint Race and in the Sprint of the major category".
SOURCE: Pirelli F1 Media
