Pirelli stops its tire choices until Hungary

As the British Grand Prix approaches, Pirelli has made its tire selection for the next three races. For the past three races, the Italian manufacturer had been offering tires from adjacent ranges, but in Britain, it will once again offer tires separated by a range, as was the case at the start of the season. Pirelli will indeed bring its soft and hard tires, as it did in Spain. Subsequently, drivers should have at their disposal, in Germany, the soft and medium tires, as was the case this past weekend in Valencia, and then in Hungary, the super soft and soft tires, as was the case in Monaco and Canada.

« Our choices are determined to maximize strategic opportunities and find the right balance between performance and sustainability. For Silverstone, we confirm the decision we made a few weeks ago, after consulting all the teams once again, and for the next two races, we have arrived at what seems to be the best solution based on the information we currently have. As has been the case so far this year, we believe there will be a wide range of strategies for the next three Grand Prix events, but as with every race, it is relatively difficult to predict the number of stops there will be: it ultimately depends on the strategies and strengths of each car and each team. »

Precisely, if Fernando Alonso had made a sensation on soft tires, in Barcelona, the Spaniard’s 150° Italia had struggled with the transition to the new hard tires provided by Pirelli, the same ones that will be supplied at Silverstone. Before Pirelli made its final decision for the British Grand Prix, Felipe Massa had confided to Globo Esporte: « If we have the hard tires, it could be a problem, not just for us but also for others, except, perhaps, Red Bull and McLaren. »

On his website, Fernando Alonso remains philosophical: “For us, it will be one more challenge to be able to make all types of tires work as well as possible. Anyway, the choice is the same for everyone, and there is no need to argue about whether the chosen tire combination suits one team better than another. It is up to the teams to adapt to get the most out of the tires in terms of both performance and endurance.”

The Spaniard also acknowledges that the tires will not be the main problem that Scuderia should face at Silverstone: « Now, we must confirm the progress glimpsed in Monaco, Montreal, and Valencia on a circuit with completely different characteristics that definitely suits our opponents better. At Silverstone, you need a lot of aerodynamic downforce, and in this area, we are far behind. We will have some new developments, but to say that we will have closed the gap… We must be realistic and accept the fact that it’s impossible that in less than two months – since Barcelona – we have caught up with the gap we saw at the Circuit de Catalunya. »