What are the tire strategies for the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

Max Verstappen surprised the field to take the pole position for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

However, the work is not being done for Red Bull drivers.

He, along with everyone else, poured data in Jeddah on Saturday night and came up with the best tire strategy options for Saudi Arabia’s Grand Prix on Sunday.

Let’s run the options.

What happened at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

Last season’s race at the Jeddah Cornish Circuit was a rather boring event.

Not only was its second race in the 2024 Formula One season, but when Red Bull and Max Verstappen were the most dominant, Lancestrol’s crash on lap 7 brought the early safety car and brought the grid into the pits. When most of the field began with medium C3 compounds, most of the grid switched to C2 hard compounds, and ran the rest on that tire.

Some drivers had a particularly different strategy, especially Lando Norris, Nico Hülkenberg, and Lewis Hamilton. These three started with medium compounds, but went outside when the walk crash took out the safety car, picked up the track’s location and bet on additional confusion.

However, when that intervention never reached, all three were soaked in the pits in the closed stages and changed the required tires. Hülkenberg stopped by on lap 33 and switched to a set of hard tires, eventually finishing a tenth.

Hamilton stopped next to the pit on lap 36. That recent stop allowed Hamilton to run the distance on soft tires. This was the same strategy Norris used, pitting the lap on lap 37. He is stopped under the safety car.

What is your recommended strategy this year?

Again, Pirelli hopes that this race will be a one-stop event. Last year, the medium-sized strategy was a favorable format, and it is likely that this year’s majority approach.

In particular, Pirelli has chosen C3, C4 and C5 compounds this year to soften them a step further with tires. So last year, the teams who went to mid-hard used C3 and then C2, but this season, their approach will use C4 and C3.

However, this week the tires have held up well at the Jeddah Cornish circuit, with Pirelli thinking they would bring a two-stop strategy in the soft phase with the complex, but admitting that the robust nature of this year’s tires is still on the table.

“From what we’ve seen so far, bringing the staged trio of compounds didn’t change the big picture,” said Pirelli’s motorsports director Mario Isola after practice Friday. “In some meaningful long-terms in the second session, there weren’t much particle extension and we didn’t get it only in some cars. Furthermore, it was clear that this phenomenon remained roughly the same from session to the next.

“In terms of lap times, the degradation levels were essentially similar to last year’s levels, or perhaps slightly higher. So, there’s a big change in strategy as one stop on paper is the fastest route, but the two stops are a little more competitive than before, but quite competitive.”

As you can see from the official page at the table below F1 On the website, the medium strategy is that from lap 16 to lap 22, the pit window opens, pushing the rest up onto the hard tires.

However, beware of other potential strategies as well. This is explained in short order.

What can Lando Norris try from the P10?

Let’s start with the current leader in driver championship rankings.

Randorris took part in Saturday’s qualifying session as a favorite of pole position given his performance in three practice sessions and relative strength of the MCL39.

However, wobbling at turn 4 early in the third quarter, Norris ended up on the wall, ending his dream of Paul’s position.

McLaren’s drivers have started 10th and, given the difficulties of overtaking in Jeddah over the past few seasons, they may need to roll the dice of strategy if they threaten the podium.

Norris chooses to start soft, using softer compounds in early push stints, stopping from lap 16 to 16, and running on hard tires for the rest of the time. That’s the strategy 4 above, and this might be his best bet, as one set of new soft tires are available.

He can also flip the script with medium hard options, start with a set of hard and run it as long as possible. Then pit around 28 vs 34 laps and use a softer medium compound, but the rest of the grid around him is probably to fade the harder tires.

And what about the drivers going back to the field?

In Pirelli’s post-qualification report, Isola found something quite interesting. Some drivers still have two sets of new hard tires. Why is this there?

Chaos factor.

The Jeddah Corniche circuit is one of the fastest street circuits in the world, with the combination of 27 corners, high speeds and looming walls punishing mistakes. There has been at least one safe car each year since the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021.

Isola believes that the teams coming on Sunday with two fresh hard sets are betting on multiple safety cars.

“As for strategy, I don’t feel that things have changed since yesterday. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it’s no coincidence that 15 out of 20 drivers saved two sets of hardware.” “C3 [hard] It seems to offer the best performance, and without too much deterioration, one-stop strategy is the fastest way on paper, and orders like pits between 14 and 20.

“There are several reasons why many people chose to save two sets of this [C3] Compound: First, you are ready to deal with the safety car situations that you may often see on this truck, and secondly, you can have a backup in case there is a major step up in tomorrow’s degradation. ”

As you can see in a flash, nine of the top 10 drivers have two fresh hard tires. Only Carlos Sainz Jr., who starts at position 6, has only one fresh set of available C3 compounds.

Two new hard tire sets are available, two drivers near the back of the grid – Jacques Douhan on the P17 and Hulkenberg on the P18.

It’s good to be able to use two sets of hard tires if you need to switch to two stop races due to a safe car situation, as Isola frames.

“It’s interesting that the team decided to keep both sets on a hard set,” Isola told the official F1 channel. “It should not be used under normal circumstances, but I know that the odds of safety here are very high. If you need to move from a pause to two stops, the hard is the best tire.

“I’m not saying that the software is completely out of the game, but if you need to fit another set with 15 laps remaining, the hardware is better than the software.”

Given that you can see drivers like Doohan and Hulkenberg behind the soft grid start, and you can use two sets of fresh hard tires each, you could roll the dice with a two-stop strategy.

Which tires are available to each driver?

From this graphic f1.com Shows the tyre compounds available to each driver. SN refers to “soft new” and “soft use.”