Emilia Romagna GP: Pirelli Qualifying Review

POSSIBLE RACE STRATEGIES
The 63-lap race is almost certain to be a one-stopper for most drivers, for three main reasons. Firstly, it’s hard to overtake around the narrow confines of Imola; secondly, the pit lane time loss is high at nearly half a minute; thirdly, the wear and degradation on the tyres is reasonably low.
A two-stopper will definitely be slower, so the teams will look to avoid that if possible. Track position is key and steering clear of traffic is important, so the timing of the stop will be critical. An advantage can often be gained by ‘undercutting’ direct rivals, so the selected strategy has to consider this as well.
A more detailed strategy prediction infographic, with likely compounds and stint lengths, will be distributed tomorrow morning.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“All the tyres selected for qualifying performed well today. As expected, we saw some of the frontrunners choose to get through Q2 and therefore start the race on the medium tyre. This should allow them to have a longer opening stint and a more flexible strategy. There are a number of question marks tomorrow, including the weather, with the possibility of rain that could entirely subvert the predicted strategies. If it stays dry, we’ve seen so far that all three compounds should have an important role to play in the race. Those starting on the soft tyre don’t face a particular disadvantage however, as Imola is a low-severity circuit for tyres and weather conditions are expected to be cool.”