Will the danger in Baku still come from the tires?
After a very eventful 2021 edition, marked by two high-speed punctures, Pirelli tires have been strongly questioned.
The layout of the Baku circuit features many slow 90-degree corners as well as long straight lines exiting these corners. The rear tire’s performance is crucial, and on several occasions, the tires have suffered from punctures.
We can think of the 2018 edition, which saw Alonso suffer a puncture after a collision, and then Bottas also suffering a puncture by running over debris during the race. Then there was 2021, where both Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen experienced the same problem within about twenty laps of each other. At over 300km/h, one of their rear tires exploded, sending both drivers into the wall with no chance of escaping unharmed.
The Pirelli tires were deemed responsible by the Italian supplier, explaining that the teams were not at fault for the punctures. The report also indicates that Lewis Hamilton’s right rear tire was also on the verge of exploding before the red flag. The common factor among these three tires was the C3 compound, which was used as the hard tire for this Grand Prix.
Once again this year, Pirelli is coming back with the same range of tires: C3, C4, and C5. Once again, the C3 compound will be serving as the hard tire. Can we therefore expect a similar situation?
Given the recent races, it is not impossible to see a race with two pit stops, thus greatly reducing the risk of a tire puncture. The track temperatures will be similar to those in Barcelona, where some drivers even made three stops. However, the layout of Baku is more similar to Monaco, where only one stop was necessary (with caution due to the changing weather conditions).
The 2022 single-seaters have shown good tire degradation management. The risk of punctures will certainly be present, but more due to debris on the track like in 2018 than degradation like last year.
