The tenth stage of the season will be organized this year at the Barcelona circuit, where both the cars and the tires work under the highest possible loads, so Pirelli tire makers have chosen the toughest compound for it.
C1 will have the role of Hard, C2 – Medium, C3 – Soft. This year the teams in Bahrain have already worked with such tires.
On the Catalan ring there are straights and bends of almost all kinds, and some of them must be overcome at very high speed, especially the 3rd, as well as the combination of the 13th and 14th, after which the start-finish straight begins.
The tires are subject to very strong lateral loads and are especially large on the left side, as nine of the circuit’s fourteen corners are right-hand corners.
The circuit’s configuration is such that it has been chosen by Formula 1 teams to conduct pre-season testing for many years, although these have recently taken place in Bahrain. Yet the reputation of the Barcelona circuit remains the same: the technology is really tested here. It is believed that if a car performs well on the Catalan ring, it will also be fast on all other circuits.
This year the Spanish Grand Prix will be held three weeks later than last season, so it is quite possible that temperatures will be higher in June and this will require a special approach to working with rubber. Softer tires can be prone to overheating, although the C3 tires performed quite well in Barcelona last year, including in the race. 16 of the 20 riders chose to start.
Pirelli believes the two pit stop tactic allows the race to be completed as quickly as possible and allows teams to use tires from all three compounds. If it turns out that the relegation is too great, the option with three pit stops may also be optimal. Moreover, last year’s race showed that after the modernization of the circuit, overtaking became somewhat easier.
However, in Barcelona, as in Monaco, success is usually achieved by those who start from the most favorable positions, and even better: from pole.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
