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KEY MOMENTS
* Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won his home grand prix with a two-stopper using
all three compounds perfectly: starting on the P Zero Red soft C3, before
moving onto the P Zero Yellow medium C2, and finishing on the P Zero White
hard C1.
* Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who finished second, opted for a different
strategy: starting on the soft and then running two stints on the medium. He
added an unscheduled third stop right at the end of the race for softs, to
claim the fastest lap championship point.
* The top five finished in the order in which they started on the grid.
However, there were five different strategies in the top six, demonstrating
the different tactical approaches that many teams took to the race.
* Red Bull driver Sergio Perez was the only driver to start on the hard
compound, from the pit lane. He went from hard to medium to soft, finishing
eighth and being voted as driver of the day.
* There was a mixture of one and two-stoppers during the race, with seven
drivers stopping twice and the rest stopping once. Hamilton was the only
driver to stop three times.
* Today was a bit warmer than previous days, with track temperatures that
peaked at 32 degrees.
HOW EACH TYRE PERFORMED
HARD C1: A key component in Verstappen’s victory, with most drivers using
the white tyre for the final stint. Several drivers completed more than 40
laps on this compound, with Williams driver Nicholas Latifi doing 47 laps.
MEDIUM C2: McLaren’s Lando Norris completed a long 42-lap opening stint on
this compound, with the top three all using the medium for the middle stint.
Hamilton came close to setting the fastest lap on a used set of mediums,
before switching to the softs right at the end to ensure the extra point.
SOFT C3: The majority of the drivers started the race on this compound, with
both Mercedes cars switching to the red tyre at the end to secure
consecutive fastest laps. Despite degradation being in line with
expectations, the wear rate was higher than predicted.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“All three compounds that we nominated for the race played a prominent role,
underlining how there was a big variety of successful strategies today on
this brand new and very exciting circuit, with the drivers pushing to the
maximum all the way to the end. Along with the warmer weather today compared
to previous days, this meant that there were plenty of demands placed on the
tyres – so it was the right decision to come here with the three hardest
tyres in the range. Wear was higher than predicted due to a lack of long
runs before the race, while degradation was in line with expectations. Prior
to the final stops for the soft from Mercedes at the end of the race, a used
medium tyre showed its capability to set the fastest lap. Congratulations to
Max Verstappen and Red Bull for an extremely popular home victory.” |