Strategies for the Abu Dhabi GP

Pirelli presented the likely strategies for the Abu Dhabi GP. The race has the particularity of being contested in the evening with a cooling track. Strategies will be essential on the Yas Marina circuit where overtaking is often difficult.

“The battle of strategy has already begun with Ferrari de Sebastian Vettel who chose to qualify in Q2 with soft tires, recalled Mario Isola, the director of the department F1 at Pirelli. The medium tires should hold up better on the first stint, but the soft compounds should allow drivers equipped with them to be faster at the start. The difference between the softs and the mediums should be around half a second per lap. »

In order to cover the 55 laps on the 5,554km track, the F1 manufacturer is planning a one-stop race with a first stint on soft tires between 7 and 14 laps and an end of the race on hard compounds between 41 and 48 laps.

An equivalent strategy is a first stint of 10-18 laps on medium tires and a second stint of 37-45 laps on hard tires.

An alternative strategy consists of doing a two-stop race with two first stints on soft tires lasting 7 to 10 laps and a finish on hard tires.

Pirelli, on the other hand, believes that a first stint on soft tires until the 18-22nd lap and a second stint of 33-37 laps on medium tires would be the slowest strategy.

Pirelli also revealed the list of tire sets still available for each driver: