What tire strategy for the Monaco race?
Monegasque tire strategy: can it enable a radical change in hierarchy? Max Verstappen certainly hopes so, but Pirelli doesn't offer many alternatives.
Traditionally, the Monaco Grand Prix is not very demanding on tires with the new ranges of tires proposed by Pirelli for a few seasons now.
The Italian manufacturer brought its three softest components here, namely the hyper, ultra, and super-soft. Although tempted to make a first race stint on ultra-softs, the failure of the Mercedes strategy yesterday in qualifying forced the ten fastest to start with the pink-banded ultra-softs.
Pirelli admits two distinct strategies for the race, both with a single pit stop. The first would involve running approximately 14 laps on hyper-soft tires before switching to super-softs until the checkered flag.
The other strategy proposed by Pirelli would have the drivers outside the top 10 use ultra-soft tires for 25 laps, before switching to super-soft tires until the finish.
The question therefore does not arise regarding the lifespan of the hyper-soft tires, which will likely not last the duration of the race. Just like the ultra-softs, which, according to Pirelli, will not exceed a good twenty laps.
The strategy thus seems somewhat static for the race, which won’t help Max Verstappen’s situation as he will start from the very back and will be forced to attack relentlessly to secure a spot in the top 10, with the strategic play being almost nonexistent… except in the event of a safety car, as often happens in Monaco!
Below, the remaining set of tires for each driver before the start, given at 15:10.
Don’t fret! There’s still a bit of #Fit4F1 pink left over for tomorrow’s #MonacoGP!https://t.co/h4IJQQqqTe pic.twitter.com/CEw31nPzw7
— Pirelli Motorsport (@Pirellisport) May 26, 2018
From our special correspondent in Monaco
