SilviuAgo wrote: ↑28 Oct 2025, 09:24
AR3-GP wrote: ↑27 Oct 2025, 23:21
FittingMechanics wrote: ↑27 Oct 2025, 23:20
What is odd about McLaren using a soft for a race sim? Last race they got burned because Leclerc used a soft to start the race. I fully expected all the top runners to start on a soft. Max once again rolled the dice (as they tend to do).
The track temp on race day was 53C. There's absolutely zero clue that one should spend the whole race on the softest compound. At first glance it appears almost illogical.
As FittingMechanics said, after COTA experience and understanding better the tires after USA race I think was a clear indication that also Mexico could have S-M strategy. Also Pirelli, who all know how accurate is on strategy, or Ruth in pre-race show, mentioned that S-M would be the better strategy. So is no surprise that McLaren, having in mind also their advantage on tires over completion, considered this even from Friday. In the end, was the strategy choose by all top runners, except Max who had to gamble and to do something different from the rest in order to move up from that P5. And I think this will be RBR strategy till the end, if they are not on pole, or even so, to do something different than the rest, something to increase their chances to be on top of the podium.
The tyre can be split into two component loosely to evaluate.
The carcass/structural heats predominantly from stress and distortion in getting to optimum temperature. Areo load and significant lateral bending being the main driver of that element.
The tread "gauge" far more from it's abrasion with the track, could be called "macro" stressing, with some also coming from carcass ambient.
If the surface doesn't grip sufficiently under load, then the carcass can't get heated enough as there's too little mechanical distortion of the carcass to be effective. Usually with this effect, the tread then overheats and makes even less grip to stress the carcass.
Pirelli control the carcass characteristics by altering the pressure, this to allow more or less flex if needed. All tyre manufacturers do this for vehicles across most everything we see with tyres on them. The reason is to "cap" temperature build up and avoid structural breakdown by saturation and thermal separation of the structure's components. Grip and aero load provide the input for that process to happen.
Its likely that in Mexico aero load is going to be at low end of delivering that part in the process, pressure doesn't need to be raised as they want the carcass to yeald into ideal fle range, and soft compound will help that process.
An ideal scenario can be reached .... low risk of structural overheat, soft compound driving that flex, because that flex in structure is readily available in optimum target, then car will traction and steer easily WITHOUT need to slide the tread, giving temperature control benefit there too. A virtuous is circle in somany aspect.
The medium, having less mechanical grip will just warm the structure less, compromise traction/steering etc and ultimately slide more because it can't generate that ideal flex. The car is just slower, whatever the driver throws at it.
A car like the Mercedes, with significant rear tyre loading can fall away from optimum in these circumstances, but gain with rear pressures increased which effectively controls to benefit their chassis characteristics. I believe there's correlation of this if the pressure/ success scenario is explored.
Understanding where the attributes lay in deciding on what to use is key in how to approach different tracks. The hard here would not generate enough pure traction to lift the carcass into optimum range of flex. It should slide, overheat it's tread and leave the structure too cold. Possibly eventually blister as the tread only goes over temperature and causes the tread to unbond from it's structural part.
