McLaren's Lando Norris has won the Brazilian Grand Prix to further extend his Championship lead. Kimi Antonelli finished second for Mercedes but all eyes were on Verstappen who battled from the back of the pack up to a podium scoring 3rd place at the checquered flag.
Looking back, 2023 they had start pressures of 23F & 21R !
Looking at the these numbers (25F,23R), teams will save atleast one fresh S set surely for Sunday (irrespective of what the weather says).
I'd say that's reasonable projection, yes. Pirelli aren't predicting much need to bolster the rear structure here, the fronts perhaps a little, which should leave that carcass in good order and allow full use of soft compound "tread".
Of interest in how higher pressures affect the Merc vs McL in performance and result at Baku, and how those pressures interact with the individual chassis.
This tyre information published by Pirelli earlier this year
"At every race weekend, Pirelli supplies each driver with five sets of Cinturato Green Intermediates and two of Cinturato Blue Full Wet. The former can disperse up to 35 litres of water per second at a speed of around 300 km/h, while the Full Wets can deal with up to 85 litres per second.
The Cinturato Full Wet was updated this year, with the tread blocks given greater rigidity so as to generate less heat in the tread pattern. The construction has also been revised to deal with the higher aerodynamic loads generated by the current cars, making the tyre less prone to overheating and thermal degradation. Development testing means the new Full Wet offers an improvement in performance, bringing it slightly closer to that offered by the Intermediate, while maintaining the same water dispersal values to tackle any eventual risk of aquaplaning.
It’s also worth noting that, since 2023, the Full Wets can no longer be pre-heated, while the temperature of the blankets for the Intermediates is set at 60 °C."
But then, how many 'proper wet' races have been conducted in the ground effect era ? They are all 'red flagged' or 'start delayed' until the track sheds water - reason being - the nature of the GE cars 'throwing up fine water spray' with more spread and more volume, than previous regulation era cars, leading to very severe visibility issues. That's the reality. So what was the point of Pirelli bringing 'updates' to the wet tyre ? they are not going to be used. I don't remember seeing any race with actual use of wet tyres in this GE era, it's always been inter-level wetness where green flag racing happens.
Agree with your outlook, it may though bring a full wet juuuuust into play in a inter+ type way with more durable tread blocks wearing evenly instead of being wiped out at marginal track water levels.
As you note, the teams are also inclined not to use them, but there may be pockets of opportunity for those that struggle to drive a inter as well as MV etc. Just a small possibility it could have influence here from the mixed success running we've seen in the past, just by extending an stint into opportunity window.
60kmph winds combined with rains are perfect conditions for some red flags. When was the last time we had had gusts this strong along with rain? I remember Baku once but in the dry. It's going to be very difficult to keep cars on track. I would not be surprised if they postpone qualy to Sunday.
60kmph winds combined with rains are perfect conditions for some red flags. When was the last time we had had gusts this strong along with rain? I remember Baku once but in the dry. It's going to be very difficult to keep cars on track. I would not be surprised if they postpone qualy to Sunday.