F1 News

Pirelli comes with aggressive tyre choice: Advantage for Verstappen in Russia?

21 September 2020 at 13:50
Last update 21 September 2020 at 19:15
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  • GPblog.com

For the Russian Grand Prix, Pirelli ohave chosen to bring softer tyres. Tyre wear rarely plays a role, but where Pirelli in Monza went for the safe choice, the Italians take more risk for Russia.

Pirelli tyres have played a major role in Formula 1 in recent years. Overtaking is quite difficult because the tyres wear out so fast, which makes most races a parade. The team that controls the tyres the best has a big chance to win the Grand Prix on Sunday.

Extra chances for Verstappen?

This also became clear during the second Grand Prix at Silverstone where, with a softer set of tyres and warm temperatures, Red Bull Racing could suddenly win with Max Verstappen. That softer set (C2, C3 and C4) was also used for Spa and Monza, but didn't have the desired effect then. For Russia, however, Pirelli goes one step further.

For the Russian Grand Prix the Italians are taking the softest tyres with them: C3, C4 and C5. With the reasonable warm temperatures, it might therefore be interesting to see how the teams are doing on that softer tyre. Is Red Bull now getting closer to Mercedes or is the gap only getting bigger?