SUMMARY
- Pirelli's tire strategy for Jeddah aims to optimize performance with C2, C3, and C4 compounds.
- The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix could impact early championship standings with Pirelli's new tire strategy.
After a spectacular start of the 2024 season with the Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula 1 is headed towards Jeddah for the second race. Kicking off their 14th season as the primary tire manufacturer of motorsports, particularly F1, Pirelli has opted for significant adjustments for this season. Despite trials of the C0 compound in the previous campaign, it never utilized its potential, leading Pirelli to scrap the idea.
Consequently, F1 will return to offering just five tire compounds during Grand Prix weekends. However, in the case of tracks like the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, a single-stop race is more likely with the probable use of medium and hard tires owing to grid position. The circuit’s limited run-off areas give a boost to accident scares, increasing the likelihood of Safety Car appearances or red flags.
F1’s tire strategy for Jeddah
The Italian tire manufacturers have sorted out C2, C3, and C4 tire compounds for the highly anticipated race at Jeddah. In place of intermediate and full wet tires, drivers are going to get eight sets of soft tires, three sets of medium tires, and two sets of hard tires.
🛞 | Tyre choices for the first three races in 2024 📷
🇧🇭Bahrain: C1, C2 and C3
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: C2, C3 and C4
🇦🇺 Australia: C3, C4 and C5#F1 #BahrainGP #SaudiArabianGP #AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/wQhU7drDxb— Ferrari Focus (@Scuderiascoop) December 1, 2023
This decision corresponds to Jeddah’s smooth tracks and high-speed corners, ranking only behind Monza. The goal is to enhance performance during strategy assessments and tire selection talks. Realizing the breakdown rates in practice hinges much on the choice made between the C2, C3, and C4 compounds.
The layout of Jeddah, with its lengthy straights and quick turns, offers mixed potential and barriers for overtaking. To have a shot at the podium, teams must strike a balance between prudence and drive by focusing on savvy tire selection and pit stops.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix holds the potential to influence the early championship standings as Pirelli is implementing a new tire strategy. The race lends teams and drivers a means to display their capacities.
Anticipated highlights of the F1 Saudi Arabia GP
With a grand win at Sakhir, Red Bull and its drivers are leading the grid at the moment. The Dutch driver wishes to maintain his dominating streak from the previous season. Verstappen had famously won 19 out of the 22 races in 2023. However, as the extended 2024 schedule is taking place, there is an open window for the reigning champion to bag more wins in this season.
Red Bull team build a drone that is able to catch up with Formula 1. It can accelerate to 186 mph in just 4s and max speed is 217 mph 💕
Check out this video showcasing how it can follow F1 driven by Max Verstappen 😲 pic.twitter.com/R89fZsYGGH
— Engineering is S3𝕏Y (@S3XYengineering) March 6, 2024
While Mercedes, McLaren, and Aston Martin are trailing behind the race leaders, Ferrari has set the stage for itself as Carlos Sainz bagged a podium finish in Bahrain. Qualifying holds significant potential for all drivers including Lewis Hamilton who had disappointed fans in the first race. On the other hand, Verstappen is all set to win yet another race which will only push him to the league of legendary drivers like Michael Schumacher.
Leading for 17 laps would surpass Senna for most Grands Prix laps led. A podium finish would mark his 100th top-three finish, approaching the achievements of Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. Meanwhile, Hamilton faces pressure to break his top-five finish drought, which has been continuing since the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix.