Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli says it hopes adopting a non-linear approach regarding tyre compounds will lead to greater variance in strategy at this weekend’s German Grand Prix.
Formula 1 will return to Hockenheim after a year’s absence, with Pirelli having nominated the Ultrasoft, Soft and Medium compounds – skipping the Supersoft, as it did in China.
At that event all three compounds were used extensively, with six drivers, including race winner Daniel Ricciardo, running the Ultrasoft, Soft and Medium during the Grand Prix.
In the aftermath of that event drivers pushed Pirelli to adopt a similar tactic for future Grands Prix.
This weekend’s race marks the first time since China that it has taken such an approach, due to the length of time required for Pirelli to notify the FIA of its compound selections.
Pirelli has taken a similar approach for upcoming Grands Prix in Hungary, Singapore and Japan and it is hopeful the missed compound step will enhance the racing.
“Germany is a bit of an unknown quantity, with no grand prix having taken place there since 2016,” said Pirelli’s Head of Car Racing Mario Isola.
“In the meantime, a lot has changed on the cars as well as of course the tyre range, while the Hockenheimring itself is substantially unaltered.
“Once again, we’ve decided to incorporate a step in the tyres that we’ve nominated in order to provide a roughly equal performance gap between the chosen compounds.
“This contributed to a great race in China, with some interesting repercussions on strategy, so hopefully it will be the same again.
“The data collected in free practice will be especially important as teams re-acquaint themselves with the circuit and also work out how best to use the tyre nomination to their advantage.”
Pirelli added that the smooth nature of the track surface means “heavy wear or degradation is not expected” at the rear-limited Hockenheim.
