Mandatory pit stop debate rekindled after Suzuka

Apart from exceeding Lewis Hamilton on Frenchman Isack Hadjar in the first of the 53 laps of the Suzuka Grand Prix, no position changed within the top 10 between the start and finish last Sunday. Usually conducive to spectacle, the 2025 edition of Suzuka will retain a dull image, enough to revive the question of the constrained strategy implemented in Monaco from this year, with Carlos Sainz, Kimi Antonelli, and Jack Doohan, present this Thursday in front of journalists.

Suzuka, a truly special case?

For the Australian driver, the case of this Japanese Grand Prix must clearly be read as a separate case, and not as a subject conducive to the extension of this rule. “I think it’s not necessary for every race. Specifically at Suzuka, I’m glad it wasn’t the case. But it’s hard to say, we have some tracks where we have a better chance of overtaking than others. The conditions (at Suzuka) were unique, it was cold. Sector 1 is usually crucial for tire management, now we saw with the new asphalt, we could push flat out. So we didn’t have many corners where we had to fight with tire management. I think it was quite unique.”

Looking ahead to the race in Bahrain, teammate Pierre Gasly in Alpine is preparing for completely different conditions. "We're going to be surprised on Sunday evening, in this heat and with gusts of 38 km/h. The subject of tire management will perhaps be a little different."

Also among the rookies for this 2025 season, Kimi Antonelli echoed his counterpart's sentiments, although the optimized development of single-seaters at the end of the regulation period is also a factor to take into account for the Italian. “I think Suzuka is an amazing circuit to drive, but it’s obviously difficult because the car is getting more and more efficient. The rear wing helps reduce downforce, so the DRS effect is even lower. So it’s even harder to overtake, and on top of that, there’s only one DRS zone. Following isn’t so easy because you go through the first sector which is super fast, with the dirty air it’s really hard to follow, and then you know you only have one chance on the main straight.”

Sainz goes further and raises the issue of Pirelli tires

"First of all, I think that the F1 needs to come together to follow the same reasoning because we ask for one thing, the product improves (the tires developed by Pirelli, Ed.), and suddenly we complain again. In my opinion, what creates an overtake is having a delta compared to the car in front. If you are only one tenth faster in F1, you will never be able to overtake. You have to be five, six, seven tenths faster than the car in front of you at Suzuka to be able to overtake. The only way to achieve that at Suzuka is degradation. There is nothing else to do.

The Spaniard, convinced that greater speed differences could be achieved in this way, developed the idea that an evolution in terms of tires would undoubtedly be more convincing. “I would be happy if they went a little bit further with the compounds, given that the tire is more robust, going further with the compounds will increase the degradation and increase the chances of overtaking a little bit. If you go with all three compounds at a circuit like Suzuka, for example, you will have a race going flat out with all three compounds and the pit stops will still be done more or less in the same way.”

In Bahrain, the temperature will be significantly higher. The thermometer will read around 27 degrees at the start of the race, and this on a track that is much rougher than in Japan. In these conditions, tire degradation is likely to be more significant than at the last round, where management and preservation dictated the 53-lap Grand Prix.

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