Pirelli going a step softer with tyre compounds for this year’s Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is a significant change that George Russell feels could spice up the race.
Overtaking around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is limited, and last year’s event saw all but one runner opt for a one-stop strategy.
This year, however, the race will go one-step softer with the C5 as the softest compound, compared to the C4 for last year’s event.
“We wanted to go in this direction, to give the teams and drivers a wider range of strategy options,” said Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola.
It’s a move that Russell, who will line up third on Sunday’s grid, welcomes, having ciriticised the hard compound selection that prompted a procession in Japan.
Asked about his prospects behind polesitter Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Russell told select media, including Motorpsort Week “I think it depends on Turn 1, to be honest.
“Max and I were just talking now. We both recognise McLaren is the standout favourite and definitely has the pace on everybody else,” he added.
“If Oscar gets into the lead, you’ll probably see a repeat of Bahrain. If we stay in the order we qualified, I think it could be a tight race until the pit stops.
“The medium tyre this year was last year’s Soft, which I think only one driver used in the whole race.
“That’s kind of what we want. We saw the tyres were too hard in Japan. We’ve all pushed to have softer tyres.
“Hopefully, it won’t make it a slam-dunk one-stop. It could be a couple of different strategies on the table.”
Russell hoping for podium in F1 Saudi Arabian GP
Speaking further to Sky Sports F1, Russell noted how the C3, C4, C5 tyre allocation means there’s an unknown element heading into the GP.
“I think well nobody’s touched the hard tyres this weekend and nobody knows if that hard tyre is going to be a slam dunk one-stop strategy or it may even be a two-stop,” he said.
“The hard this year is last year’s medium so they’ve gone softer and the medium tyre didn’t look very good in the race pace. There’s a lot of degradation.
Russell is chasing his fourth podium of the season, and although a crash for Lando Norris means the second McLaren starts from 10th, Mercedes’ lead driver feels his former F2 title rival could play a trump card in Saudi’s main event.
“Lando will start on the hard tyres so he’s going to go long, a timely safety car can play into his hands,” Russell explained.
“So the truth is I don’t know, I just want to keep on being consistent, keep getting the points, keep getting on the podium, that’s the aim but if there’s a chance to do a bold undercut or go long we’ll try and take it.”
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