Mercedes against Ferrari: Pirelli strategies for the race

The starting grid at the Red Bull Ring sets up a decidedly interesting race, with the two Ferraris sandwiched between the Mercedes of Russell and Antonelli. Spielberg’s aggressive asphalt and Styria’s high temperatures promise high thermal degradation, setting up another strategically lively Grand Prix. There is certainly no shortage of options, as Simone Berra, Pirelli’s Chief Engineer, explains to FormulaPassion. The best options “We exclude single parking”, begins Berra. The heat wave that hit Europe also hit the Red Bull Ring, whose asphalt broke through the 50°C barrier, putting the tires to the test: “The degradations are higher than we expected before the event. On the eve of the single pit stop was only 3-4 seconds slower and could have been a possibility. Even considering an improvement that certainly occurred compared to what we saw on Friday, we still believe that the two-stop strategy is the most fast.” “On paper, using the medium at the start and then two sets of hard tyres, or the medium-hard-medium sequence, are the fastest strategies,” continues Berra. “We are surprised that there was a division between those who kept two hard ones, like the top teams, and those who kept two medium ones. Max [Verstappen] he even kept two hard and two medium. In my opinion, he wanted to cover up a bit to understand for a moment how the hard one behaves in the race. Having two sets of both compounds allows you to be much more flexible. In the last stint one can mount the compound which of the two gave the best sensations.” The variable of the soft According to Pirelli, the softer compound could also be included in the strategic framework: “An interesting chapter opens on the soft. We know that teams are a little reluctant to use it, because they have experience from the past, when the C5 tended to degrade a lot. Here however, in reality, even with the softer compound we have seen greater use in the past. In our opinion it is a race tyre, it can be used on quite significant stints. It can give an advantage in terms of grip in the first 3-4 laps, with a degradation that in the end is aligned with medium and hard. We are in a situation similar to that of Barcelona, ​​in which having the extra grip guarantees you a little more performance, while the medium and hard tires tend to slip and generate thermal degradation similar to the soft.” In Barcelona it was Lewis Hamilton who mounted the softer compound at the start and Berra does not rule out that someone could try again: “I expect that someone could try to use the soft at the start to gain some positions. Here traffic is certainly an important factor. Gaining positions, staying in clean air, being in front is useful, as it helps to reduce degradation a little. I see the soft as a usable tire. Then it can happen like in Barcelona, ​​where the majority of teams and drivers preferred not to use it and only a few dared use it in the first stint.” Watch out for the triple pit stop. The strategic similarities with Barcelona are numerous, albeit with the necessary differences: “In terms of degradation, we are in line with what we saw in Barcelona. The characteristics of the asphalt are similar: very old and with a high macro-roughness. This generates a lot of hysteresis which in turn generates heat, temperature in the rubber and thermal degradation, more here than in Spain. In Barcelona the thermal degradation was on both axles, but the front suffered a little more. Here, however, it is the rear that suffers the most, because there are more areas of traction at low speed. The front also suffers in fast corners, but in the end it is the management of temperatures at the rear that allows you to maintain a good race pace.” Berra maintains that triple stopping is also a viable option in Austria, as long as you are away from traffic: “In Barcelona the group of leading riders managed to have an important advantage in terms of seconds to always be able to return to the track in clean air. This is a significant aspect. Even today we don’t rule out the possibility that someone could attempt a triple stop, because with the degradations so high someone could be aggressive and try something different.” Guenther Iby/SEPA.Media /Getty Images Certainly the teams could vary their tactics, especially Ferrari, which this time can count on two cars to challenge the Silver Arrows: “They could try different strategies to put pressure on Mercedes. This makes the race interesting. Certainly here, compared to Barcelona, ​​traffic management could be more difficult, which however makes you lose some basic time and ruins your tires a bit. It makes you slide more and therefore generate more temperature. In my opinion, here it is even more of a factor in being able to overtake the car in front, despite there being some straights and important braking points”, concludes Berra.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-28 20:23:00