|
Mercedes driver
Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the first Russian Grand Prix
using the P Zero Yellow soft tyre, nominated along with the P Zero White
medium tyre at Sochi. The Englishman set a time of 1m38.513s using the soft
tyre in Q3, ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg. This was the ninth Mercedes
one-two in qualifying this season.
The performance gap between the two P Zero compounds has come down compared
to yesterday, from 1.5 seconds to 1.2 seconds. This difference still leaves
plenty of strategy options open, with the possibility that some teams might
try stopping only once on account of the low wear and degradation.
A one-stop strategy has become even more likely with the news that the pit
lane speed limit has been reduced to 60kph for safety reasons. This will
increase the total pit stop time to approximately 24 seconds, meaning that
teams will aim to reduce the amount of time spent in the pits during the
race.
No team felt confident enough to attempt to get through Q1 using the medium
tyres only, with the soft tyre dominating qualifying, held in warm and dry
conditions with ambient temperatures of 25 degrees centigrade.
Hamilton completed just one run
in the final Q3 session, setting a fastest time that was actually not as
quick as the time he set in Q2. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat put in his
best-ever qualifying performance to line up fifth on the grid for his home
grand prix.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “As expected, the
performance gap between the two compounds has come down a bit compared to
yesterday while degradation is minimal. We will probably see the drivers
keeping their tyres for as long as possible, with a one-stop strategy now
looking a distinct possibility, also because of the fact that the pit lane
speed limit has been reduced. The faster cars may allow themselves the
luxury of a two-stopper, following more of a sprint strategy. Either way,
it’s going to be an interesting race at a significant new venue, where tyre
tactics are set to play a central role.”
The Pirelli strategy predictor:
A one-stop strategy is theoretically fastest for the 53-lap Russian Grand
Prix, now that the pit lane speed limit has been reduced to 60kph. However,
this will depend also on the inherent speed in each car, as well as track
position. The ideal one-stop strategy goes as follows: start on the soft
tyre, change to the medium on lap 34 and then run to the end. The opposite
strategy is just as quick: start on the medium and then change to the soft
on lap 18, although this will not be used by the top 10 on the grid. The
fastest two-stop strategy is: start on the soft, change to the soft again on
lap 20, then to the medium on lap 50. |
