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THE ROAD TO
POLE
* Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz took his very first pole position after a
qualifying session run in rainy conditions from start to finish. The
Cinturato Green intermediates were used throughout qualifying, run in 15
degrees ambient and 19 degrees of track temperature.
* Despite the wet conditions, the intermediates provided optimal grip under
the circumstances, with the top speed reached today being close to 300kph.
The intermediate evacuates around 35 litres of water per second at 300kph,
while the full wet disperses around 85 litres per second at the same speed.
* As well as being a first pole position for Sainz today, it was also a
first appearance in Q3 for Williams driver Nicholas Latifi.
* The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Sainz by a British lion:
Nigel Mansell, nicknamed ‘Il Leone’ when he was a Ferrari driver. Mansell
won the world title in 1992 and won the British Grand Prix four times (as
well as the European Grand Prix once in England). |
STRATEGY
NOTEBOOK:
The quickest strategy for
the 52-lap race is going to be a two-stopper, with a few different options
on the table.
The P Zero Yellow medium is the tyre to start on, and the quickest strategy
on paper is medium followed by P Zero White hard followed by medium. This
has the advantage of ensuring that two different compounds are run earlier
in the race, opening up strategic possibilities
For those who don’t have a second set of mediums available, the strategy
could be medium-hard-soft, which is also closely-matched – and could be
converted to a one-stopper if needed. A one-stopper is possible but hard to
manage: this would be medium to hard.
As always, this also depends on which tyres the drivers have left in their
allocations, and what the conditions are like tomorrow. It’s expected to be
dry, but there is a risk of some rain showers, and the cooler the
temperatures, the more the softer compounds are favoured.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“Even though the intermediate tyre was not designed to cope with aquaplaning
situations, it coped very well with the conditions today, allowing the
drivers to reach nearly 300kph in wet conditions with comparatively long
stints as the surface dried out. This is a track that puts lots of energy
through the tyres, allowing a dry line to emerge. In the dry conditions of
FP3, most drivers ran the soft tyre, and we expect the medium to be the main
race tyre tomorrow if conditions are dry – which is not entirely certain –
with a two-stopper being the best strategy.” |
