Pirellis Mario Isola on Imola challenges: “The teams had to work out the crossover points”

Mario Isola says Max Verstappen‘s pit stop to switch from medium to dry tires last weekend Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna was perfectly set up and the Dutchman took his first win of the season with it.

The Red Bull Racing On lap twenty-seven, the driver pitted to switch to the middle terrain, one lap ahead of the main competitor Lewis Hamiltonbut it was Verstappen who came out as the one in front Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team The racing driver left the pit lane.

Isola, the head of F1 and Car Racing Pirelli Motorsport, says it is up to the teams to figure out when it is best to switch from wet-weather tires to the Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuitand Red Bull managed to get it right.

“We had a red flag that split the race in two after an incident that highlighted Imola’s difficulty, made even more complicated by the unsafe and chilly weather,” said Isola.

“Since no intermediate and wet tires were used at the weekend, the teams had to work out the crossover points over time. But there was a clear, dry line and Verstappen and Red Bull planned their stop perfectly to stay ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the pits. “

According to Isola, both the middle and soft links worked well after the Imola red flag period as the race was interrupted by a serious fall Valtteri Bottas and George Russell Direction Tamburello.

Hamilton recovered from being in the gravel trap and climbing to second place on the middle terrain Lando Norris took his second career podium in third for the McLaren F1 Team After playing on the soft compound, a tire that allowed him to pass Charles Leclerc on restart.

“After the race restarted after the red flag, most of the riders used the middle tires, which allowed a good balance between performance and durability throughout the dry part of the race,” said Isola.

“However, some of the front runners – including Norris on the podium – switched to the soft for the restart, which also showed a strong performance in the last run until the end of a memorable race in which we were honored as the title sponsor.” .

Photo credit: Pirelli Motorsport