Pirelli does not expect any "anomalies" in Qatar F1 race
Following the tyre issues in last year's Qatar Grand Prix, Pirelli does not expect a repeat of the same problems that led to the introduction of maximum stint lengths in 2023.
McLaren were favourites heading into the Qatar F1 weekend, and the Woking-based outfit delivered when it really mattered, with Lando Norris securing pole position in sprint qualifying
The McLaren driver was quickest in all three segments, in which the regulations state that the Medium compound must be used for the first two sessions and the Soft for the third. His time of 1m21.012s was 2.766 quicker than last year’s pole and close to Hamilton’s 1m20.827s pole lap from 2021, set with a generation of cars and tyres that were theoretically quicker than the current ones.
Behind Norris, who clinched his third sprint pole since the format was introduced in 2021, George Russell will line up second, with Oscar Piastri set to start from P3 on the grid.
Reflecting on the day from the tyre's point of view, Pirelli's chief engineer Simone Berra has revealed that he was impressed by the improvement of lap times compared to last year.
“It was a very interesting day and a surprising one in some ways. The most significant data is the improvement in lap times compared to last year, by a huge amount in FP, slightly less so but still significant in SQ.
"Running exactly the same tyres as last year and with hardly any changes to the technical regulations, this major drop in lap times can be put down to – apart from the natural performance progression of this generation of cars – mainly to the lower temperatures and also to the improvement of the condition of the track and the fact that, unlike in 2023, for this year’s event, there are support races running on track before the Formula 1 session and that has rubbered-in the track more."
As for the tyres, drivers concentrated on the medium and the soft rubber in the sole one-hour free practice session. The exceptions were the Ferrari and Williams drivers, who opted to use one of their two available sets of hards in FP1.
Although Ferrari usually do not scrub in tyres in practice session, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc did exeactly that with two sets of mediums - a practice usually executed by Aston Martin.
It was windy pretty much all day even if it dropped gradually in strength as the day went on and conditions were rather unusual for this part of the world with temperatures around 20 degrees lower than last year.
Berra reckoned that the initial analysis carried out by Pirelli did not show any signs that last year's tyre issues might happen again following the tweaks to the kerbs for this year's Qatar Grand Prix.
"As expected, performance improved very quickly the more laps were completed, both in free practice and in the Sprint Qualifying. So far, the level of graining we have seen is lower than what we might have expected and the performance degradation is very limited.
"This could push the teams more towards a one-stop strategy and with this in mind, it will be important to check tyre behaviour during tomorrow’s Sprint race, given that today, very few drivers did meaningful long runs with a heavy fuel load. For the “short” race, the Medium seems to be the most plausible option even if, as was already the case in 2023, the Soft cannot be completely ruled out, especially as the C3 has an ideal operating window in temperatures similar to those recorded today.
"In terms of the integrity of the tyres, initial analysis has not thrown up any anomalies, confirming that the changes instigated by the FIA relating to the kerbs have had the desired effect. Obviously, it will be important to analyse the data from the Sprint when all the cars will run continuously for the equivalent of one third of Sunday’s race.”
