Medium tires in qualifying, a trend set to continue in Montreal?

He's already done it. At Imola, George Russell hoisted his Mercedes in 3rd position on the grid using medium tires in qualifying. This Friday, in Montreal, the Briton set the fastest time in Free Practice with this same compound. “Once again, teams will think about using these medium tires, he predicted in view of the qualifications. Choosing between soft and medium is one of the challenges you face when you have the C6 compound.”

The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix saw the introduction of the new C6 tires, the softest in the Pirelli range, which the teams had struggled to use. "The tires are perhaps a little too soft for this circuit and it was difficult for us to get the most out of them.", had judged Max Verstappen.

Reused in Monaco, the C6s posed no problems in the Principality, but this circuit is known for its particularly limited degradation. In Montreal, the situation is slightly different, even if the track is also not very abrasive. For Mario Isola, Pirelli's competition director, this Grand Prix was intended to be a test. "We are still waiting for Montreal, which will be an important race to better understand the C6 tire.", he announced on the sidelines of the weekend.

Between the C5 and C6 tires, minimal gaps over a lap

In order to create a spectacle on the track, Pirelli has claimed aggressive tire choices for 2025. "For some teams, (the C6) was not a very easy compound to use, but that's quite normal, you have to understand the new compound when you bring it to a circuit, explained Isola after Imola. You have to get used to it, it was the same with Hypersofts a few years ago. Everyone understood that there was potential but they had trouble using them.

In Montreal, the second Free Practice session suggested that the C5 tires, in this case the mediums, could once again be favored. Russell, fastest this Friday, inflicted nearly three-tenths of a second on his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was equipped with soft tires. Behind, Alex Albon and Max Verstappen also beat their respective teammates by more than two tenths by favoring the mediums.

“In terms of lap times, the C6 is very close to the C5”, confided Mario Isola. The second place of Lando Norris in FP2, just 28 thousandths of a second behind the #63 Mercedes, confirms that there is not a big gap between the two compounds. The third and final Free Practice session will allow the teams to make the final decisions and decide on the qualifying process.

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