Pirelli is happy with Friday’s results in Qatar…
Simone Berrachief engineer: “A very interesting and somewhat unexpected day. Compared to last year, the lap times have improved – very seriously during practice and a little less, but still seriously, during sprint qualifying.
By using exactly the same tires as last year and with virtually no changes to the technical regulations, this significant reduction in lap times, in addition to the natural increase in efficiency of cars of this generation, can be explained by lower temperatures, but also by improved track conditions and the fact that this year, unlike 2023, there were support races on the circuit before the Formula 1 session.
As expected, on-track performance improved with each lap. The granularity was lower than we expected, which could push teams toward a one-stop strategy. With this in mind, it will be important for the teams to test the behavior of the tires during tomorrow’s sprint race, as very few drivers today completed long runs with a lot of fuel.
It is very likely that many people will use Medium tires in the sprint, although the use of Soft tires, as was already the case in 2023, cannot be completely ruled out, especially since the C3 compound falls exactly within the temperature range in which we have worked today.
As for the integrity of the tyres, the initial analysis revealed no abnormalities, confirming that the changes made by the FIA to the design of the curbs had achieved the desired result. Obviously it will be important to analyze the data obtained during the sprint, when all cars will be on the attack continuously for a third of the race on Sunday.”
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.
