The choice of when to switch from wet to intermediate tires was decisive in many ways during the Japanese Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel and Nicholas Latifi, who were the first to switch to intermediate tyres, gained the advantage and earned points, while Mick Schumacher, who later switched to wet tires, lost all chances to finish in the top ten.
Ferrari chief strategist Iñache Rueda explained how the teams choose which tires to put on the car: “This year, wet tires have become the biggest mystery for us. This setup works effectively in a very narrow range – during the monsoons, but we don’t perform in such weather.
On the other hand, the intermediate tires perform very well on wet roads. In a situation where we have to choose between rain and intermediate tires, in most cases we will opt for intermediate tires as this compound is faster.
In Suzuka no one was allowed to start behind the safety car on medium tires, although we knew they would be faster in most cases. As soon as the safety car turned off the lights, the two riders went straight to the pits to switch to intermediate tires.
This gave us an idea of how fast you can go on this rubber. We saw that Sebastian Vettel was already fastest on track in the pit-exit lap. This speed gave us the confidence to switch from wet tires to medium tires.”
Source: F1 News
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