Monaco GP: Pirelli Qualifying Review

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen has claimed pole position for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. All the drivers used the P Zero Purple ultrasoft tyres from start to finish of qualifying, which was held in quite high track temperatures of 46 degrees centigrade. Raikkonen’s pole time was 1m12.178s, lowering the fastest-ever lap time of Monte-Carlo that was set during free practice on Thursday. Only one pit stop is expected for tomorrow’s grand prix. However, expected low degradation also means that the stop can happen more or less when the teams choose at any point in the race, enabling them to take advantage of changing circumstances.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING “It was a truly unpredictable qualifying session, where we saw another lap record being set. The ultrasoft was used from start to finish in qualifying, which was always going to be the most likely scenario, especially as the drivers can do multiple runs on this compound without any significant drop-off in performance. One pit stop is clearly the optimal race strategy, but with at least one frontrunner starting out of position, the potential is there to try something different by starting on supersoft and hoping to benefit from a safety car.”

HOW THE TYRES BEHAVED TODAY
SOFT - Not seen in qualifying and not expected to be used in the race.
SUPER SOFT - Not seen in qualifying but could be an alternative starting tyre as a gamble.
ULTRA SOFT - Used from start to finish in qualifying and will be main race tyre tomorrow.