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TExtreme heat –
with track temperatures even hotter than those seen in Belgium last weekend
– very high speeds, and a relatively small performance gap between the
supersoft and soft were the key hallmarks of free practice at Monza today.
Track temperatures peaked at 46 degrees centigrade during the afternoon,
with over 30 degrees ambient, and this clearly had an effect on tyre wear
and degradation: especially with the supersoft.
The supersoft compound set the fastest time of the day with Mercedes driver
Lewis Hamilton, but the performance advantage that it has compared to the
soft tyre is reasonably small: about 0.6 seconds so far. There’s a clearer
gap between the soft and the medium of about 1 second, with all three
compounds run today.
This suggests that the soft tyre will be a strong race tyre, although the
teams had a good opportunity to assess the supersoft during long runs as
well. As usual, the work for teams in FP2 was split between qualifying and
race simulations, in order for teams to get an overall picture of wear and
degradation with different fuel loads.
Monza contains the highest top speeds of the year, with the drivers coming
close to 360kph at the speed trap at the end of the pit straight. With more
grip as the weekend evolves, these impressive speeds are likely only to get
even higher.
As was the case at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, each driver had two
sets of prototype soft compound tyres for the Friday free practice sessions
only, which did not have any colour markings. A useful amount of data has
been collected on these, which will be used to assess whether or not to
introduce them as race tyres in future.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “We thought that Belgium was hot,
but the track temperatures we saw today were even hotter: peaking at 46
degrees centigrade. This will have an effect on tyres, but we have to see
what conditions will be like for the remainder of the weekend.
Traditionally, a one-stopper has been the winning strategy, but this year
we’re introducing the supersoft to Monza for the first time. How that tyre –
which is about half a second faster than the soft so far – could perform in
the race as part of the overall strategy was a big focus of the work in free
practice today.”
Minimum prescribed tyre pressures: 23,5 psi (front) and 21,5 psi (rear)
Spotted in the paddock: Bernie Ecclestone. Formula 1’s ringmaster was
spotted in the paddock and pitlane, finalising a deal that will keep Monza
as part of the world championship for the next three years – just like
Pirelli. |
FP1 - TIMES
Rosberg 1m22.959s Soft New
Hamilton 1m23.162s Soft New
Raikkonen 1m24.047s Soft New
FP2 – TIMES
Hamilton 1m22.801s Supersoft New
Rosberg 1m22.994s Supersoft New
Vettel 1m23.254s Supersoft New
FP1 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
Medium Ricciardo 1m28.007s
Soft Rosberg 1m22.959s
Supersoft Hamilton 1m23.643s
Prototype Hamilton 1m24.123s
FP2 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
Medium Rosberg 1m24.569s
Soft Hamilton 1m23.732s
Supersoft Hamilton 1m22.801s
Prototype Bottas 1m25.007s
LONGEST STINTS OF THE DAY
Soft Vettel 27 laps
Medium Rosberg 23
Supersoft Gutierrez 22
Supersoft Raikkonen 22
Prototype Massa 11
Tyre statistics of the day:
Medium Soft Supersoft Prototype
kms driven * 1001 2895 2148 1256
sets used overall ** 17 41 29 39
highest number of laps ** 23 27 22 11
* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres
driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.
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