In the Netherlands, Max Verstappen is preparing to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive victories. Behind him, however, the race promises to be extremely hard-fought for the podium positions, with McLaren and Mercedes very close in terms of pace, Aston Martin and Ferrari not far away and Williams as the wild variable. In the event of a dry race, strategies will be divided between double and single stops, but a lot will also depend on the weather, with rain lurking. Simone BerraChief Engineer of Pirelli, provides the key to understanding the upcoming race at Zandvoort.
Engineer Berra, what strategies can we expect?
“From our simulations, we expect a situation similar to last season. The double stop and the single stop are very close in terms of strategies. We expect different philosophies and approaches depending on the teams, based on who is better at managing degradation and who has more speed on the straight with DRS open for overtaking. On paper, the double stop is slightly faster. In this case it’s better to start on the soft, do the central fraction on the medium and then finish again on the soft with little fuel. This solution is more aggressive, but gets you into traffic and you need to be able to pass slower cars in front of you. Here, however, overtaking is not easy and if you come across a DRS train you risk getting stuck”.
In this regard, considering the pace and top speed of the Williams, it is probable that one of these little trains will form behind Albon. Who is behind what could come up with?
“He could anticipate the stop to implement an undercut, which is very powerful in Zandvoort. Alternatively he can try a strategy with different compounds. If, for example, Williams decides to make a single stop by mounting the harder tyres, the chaser could focus on the soft ones to have more chances to attack. This is the only way, otherwise overtaking becomes complicated and the race risks being compromised. The single stop is feasible, but using the two harder compounds, with the medium at the start and the hard at the end. The medium at the start gives you less grip, but turn 1 is very close and the track is narrow. It would also make it possible to lengthen the first stint compared to the others on the softs”.
However, if you start on a wet track, if you switch to slicks after ten laps, a single stop seems impossible…
“Yes. It will also depend a lot on the weather conditions. At the moment the forecasts give a 40% probability of rain for the start, but in the last few days we have seen very variable weather. However, if it remains dry, the temperatures will not be very high. This will certainly lead to the use of soft compounds rather than hard ones. The degradation here is more thermal than mechanical in nature. We had no graining or any other problems. Keeping the temperatures under control and doing management allows you to lengthen the stint”.
“As an alternative strategy we have C3-C1-C3. This involves doing a central stint with the dura, which turned out to be very consistent and with very low degradation. The advantage over last year is that the old C1 worked well, so we expect it to do so again this year which is a little softer. The usefulness of this strategy is not having to struggle with warming up the medium in the first laps. You have to be good at managing the first stint with the soft tire though”.
During the race pace simulations on Friday we saw Verstappen do a lot of handling in the fast turn 7. Could this be a critical point?
“Yes, absolutely. The triptych of turns 7-8-9 are where you can make the difference in tire management, especially on the front axle. We try not to use too much steering angle to try to protect the front tires and keep them in the right window of use. For rear management, on the other hand, all the traction phases are fundamental, therefore the exit of turn 3 and the 11-12 chicane of the last sector. These are the key points.”
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