Like every race week, Pirelli has chosen the compounds that will be present for the Austrian GP. Let's find out together.
Pirelli, the C3, C4 and C5 arrive in Austria
The teams will have available for the Austrian Grand Prix la mix C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. As in the previous race in Montreal, they will therefore be used the three softest compounds in the range. The Spielberg weekend will be the second on the calendar with the F1 Sprint. Qualifying to decide the starting grid for the Grand Prix is scheduled for Friday afternoon, after the only free practice session in the morning. Saturday it will instead be dedicated to the Sprint Shootout and the Sprint Race. In the three short sessions of the Sprint Shootout (12, 10 and 8 minutes respectively), the teams will have to fit new sets of tires and use Q1 and Q2 are the Medium compounds. In Q3, the use of the Soft compound is expected.
A bit of history
The Red Bull Ring it only has ten curves and it is the circuit in the world championship calendar where the riders take the least time to complete a complete lap. The race record belongs to Carlos Sainz who in the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix finished the 68th lap in 1m05.619s with his Renault-powered McLaren on Soft C4. The driver with the most victories on the current version of the Austrian track is Max Verstappen on Red Bull with four victories in the 18 races held since 1997. The most successful manufacturer is Mercedes thanks to the six first places, obtained by Nico Rosberg, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, all with two successes each.
Without forgetting last year
In the 2022 Grand Prix the majority of drivers made two stops, starting on Medium and finishing with two stints on Hard. Overtaking was frequent, especially in the middle of the pack with five cars competing for positions below the podium. The variation in height between the various points of the track makes the Red Bull Ring the second circuit in the championship with the greatest difference in altitude after Spa-Francorchamps. Between the closest point to sea level, before curve 1, and the highest point, after curve 2, there is a variation of more than 60 metres.
Isola warns: “The few straights prevent the tires from resting”
To indicate the difficulties that tires will represent in Austria, there is the head of Pirelli's Motorsport technical area, Mario isola"The Red Bull Ring is a circuit where the tires have no respite. The cars navigate the ten corners of the track in a time slightly over one minute few straights do not allow the tires to rest. The asphalt has a fairly high micro and macro-roughness, due to the age of the surface, and the grip is high from the start".
“Watch out for traction and fraction”
“Traction and braking are key elements and particular attention must be paid to managing tire overheating: drivers who are unable to cool them adequately could in fact have difficulty defending themselves from opponents' attacks, especially in the first and last sectors. An important factor will therefore also be the ambient temperature, with traditionally rather variable conditions. Last year's match was played on two stops with Medium and Hard compounds but this year, if degradation is not excessively high, the one stop it could be a valid option.”
SOURCE: Pirelli F1 Media
