There's very little left now and we'll get on track for the second race of the season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. To conquer the pole position was Sergio Perez, who will start in front of Fernando Alonso and George Russell. A super grill, which sees the Classic Ferrari for sale di Charles Leclerc twelfth, while Max Verstappen will start fifteenth. The strategy will therefore be very important: one or two stops? What sets of tires will be used? Let's find out together.
Saudi Arabian GP, here is Pirelli's strategy
Based on Pirelli, the fastest strategy in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix it's at a stop. From simulations, the combination P Zero Yellow medium C3 and P Zero White hard C2 is slightly faster compared to the other two available options, even if the differences are quite small. For this strategy, the tire change window is between lap eighteen and twenty-five, while for the Soft-Hard strategy it is between lap thirteen and twenty, with that for the Medium-Soft between lap twenty-seven and thirty-four.
The only two-stop strategy that could be taken into consideration is the start on Soft tyres, the change between laps ten and fifteen with Medium and finally the last stint, which started between laps thirty-second and thirty-eight, again on Softs.
Moreover, on a track like that of Jeddah there is a high chance of neutralizations and interruptions: Sergio Perez remembers it well who, in 2022, after his first pole position of his career, had returned to the pits a lap before the exit of the safety car, thus losing the opportunity to stay in the lead of the race.
Isola: "It will be a race with a stop"
To give us an even clearer picture of the strategy, there was no lack of statements by the head of the Pirelli motorsport area, Mario Isola: “It was a very interesting qualifying and full of ideas. The C4 confirmed that it is a very versatile tire also in the session which determines the starting grid, both on the flying lap and on longer runs. In fact, the performance of Q1 highlighted how it was possible to have a good level of grip even on the second or third attempt, interspersed with a slower lap, within the same series".
"The possibility of having a tire with these characteristics had already emerged on some tracks last year and here we had further confirmation. On a particular track like Jeddah, the method of preparing the tires varied from team to team, another element that emphasizes the peculiarities of the C4 in combination with those of the various cars in contention".
“From a strategy point of view, the data collected so far this weekend confirms that the one based on a single stop is certainly the fastest option, with very limited differences between each of the three possible combinations, also considering the fact that, as seen in the first two editions of this Grand Prix, neutralizations and, perhaps, interruptions will be the order of the day”.
SOURCE: Pirelli F1 Media
