Held on a wet track after torrental rain that pushed the start back an hour, the Singapore Grand Prix saw all the drivers use a similar tire strategy.
The whole field set off on intermediate tires, the rain tire not having convinced in PR3 or during the grid laps, on a track which took a long time to dry on the main trajectory, or even never at the outside of certain bends.
At the back of the pack, George Russell was the first driver to take the daring bet of slick tires on lap 21, but the Mercedes F1 driver struggled to get his medium tires up to temperature and lost several seconds per lap at the start of the stint
It was finally from the 34th lap of the race that the majority of the drivers stopped, most of them to put on the medium ones with the exception of Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas who opted for the soft ones. Max Verstappen, also left in the medium category, finally changed to the soft ones five laps later and climbed up to seventh place at the finish.
The good operation of the day was to the benefit of McLaren F1, Lando Norris and Ricciardo having taken advantage of the second safety car to make their only stop in the race and gain several positions. They had the credit of holding their intermediate tires for 36 laps, more than anyone else, and were rewarded with fourth and fifth places in the event.
Isola very satisfied with the operation of the intermediate tire
The intermediate tire having been used for more than half of the race, the supplier Pirelli was pleased with the quality of its rubber and then with the race in general.
“Intermediate tires have demonstrated their reliability,” rejoiced Mario Isola, the director of Pirelli in F1.
« Even with quite a lot of wear, they offer excellent performance over the laps as we expected, especially thanks to the data collected in qualifying. And as we saw on Saturday, the track took a long time to s ‘dry because of the water that remained on the surface.
“As the conditions became increasingly drier, the race took on a new twist with all the riders wearing slicks. The majority of teams opted for the medium tyre, which guaranteed the best balance between performance, warm-up and durability. »
“The drivers had to be careful not to go off course so as not to roll in the water and cool the tire which can affect its operation. Formula 1 produced a quality spectacle in front of the fans in Singapore this weekend. «
