Following a scorching Austrian Grand Prix, Formula 1 and the 11 teams swiftly move on to Silverstone as the British Grand Prix takes centre stage this weekend.
This time around at the famous circuit, which hosted the very first F1 race back in 1950, Pirelli have opted for their hardest compounds in the range – the C1 as the hard, C2 as the medium and C3 as the soft – thanks to the high severity of the track causing tyre degredation.
As it’s a Sprint weekend, the allocation of tyres drops from 13 to 12 with drivers getting two sets of the hard tyre (marked white), four sets of the medium tyre (marked yellow), and six sets of the soft tyre (marked red), as well as access to the green intermediate tyre and the blue full wets, should they be required.
“Today, the track features 18 corners (10 right-handers and 8 left-handers) some of which generate very high lateral forces, with rapid direction changes at high speed,” reads Pirelli’s weekend preview.
“Sequences such as Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel, combined with the straights, led Lewis Hamilton, the driver with the most wins at Silverstone, to say that driving here is like being in the cockpit of a fighter jet.”
“The selection for the weekend consists of the hardest compounds in the range. C1, C2 and C3 have been chosen due to the high severity of the circuit, which causes tyre degradation.
“The accelerations reached in some sections exceed 5g, similar to what is seen at Suzuka and Spa. The front axle is the most stressed, with the left-front tyre particularly prone to wear due to the predominance of right-hand corners”.
“The track surface is not abrasive and has relatively low roughness. It already offers a good level of grip thanks to the continuous use of the circuit throughout the year for both two- and four-wheel competitions”.
“Taking all factors into account, we expect teams to attempt to complete Sunday’s race with a one-stop strategy, using the two compounds with greater grip, C2 and C3. The latter is the only option that has shown some light graining in past years, while C1 and C2 have proved to be more mechanically consistent.
“The white-hard tyre is very likely to be used in FP1, as this year the weekend features a Sprint format.”
“Wet tyres may also come into play in Britain. For two consecutive years, it has rained on Sunday, leading drivers to use the Cinturato Intermediate tyres.
“The British weather is famously unpredictable, and even in summer, showers are not uncommon.”
For more information about Pirelli’s F1 tyres, visit pirelli.com.
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