It's the Qatar Grand Prix. The Sprint Race yesterday already brought us two causes for celebration, with Oscar Piastri getting his first race* win in Formula 1 and Max Verstappen putting himself mathematically secure of his third World Drivers' Championship.
Now under the lights of the desert, which is hardly unique in F1 anymore, we race for honour, glory and the minor championship places on a super fast circuit. What comes with a super fast circuit with breadknife inspired kerbs? Tyre problems. Pirelli are Pirelliing hard this weekend so, for safety, a maximum 18 lap stint length has been mandated. Those who watched CART twenty years ago will know what a blow for strategy this will make, but the alternative is an Indy 2005 not-race, and with a single tyre supplier, we have the opportunity to at least see a Grand Prix.
FIA mandates maximum 18-lap stints in F1 Qatar GP due to tyre trouble (autosport.com)
ANF explained the tyre ruling in the build up thread:
Due to the frequency of Safety Car interventions in yesterday’s Sprint, the tyre data available for analysis by Pirelli was insufficient to add to that already undertaken following previous track sessions.
In some cases, tyres that were analysed from the Sprint did show the initial onset of the separation in the sidewall between the topping compound and the carcass cords of the tyres.
As was the case in Free Practice 1, this issue has likely been caused by the high-frequency interference between the tyre sidewall and the 50mm ‘pyramid’ kerbs used extensively at this circuit, aggravated by the propensity to ride those kerbs.
As a consequence, it has been decided by the FIA and Pirelli and after consultation with the teams on safety grounds, the following measures will be implemented for today’s Qatar Grand Prix:
- A mandatory limit of 18 laps of total tyre life per set will be imposed.
- The life of already used tyres will be taken into consideration.
- The FIA and Pirelli will communicate to the teams the remaining available laps for each set of used tyres at their disposal for the race and the criteria used to calculate that number.
- There is no direct mandate for at least three tyre-change pitstops during the race, however this will be a consequence of the above guidelines should the race run its entire race distance.
- Any car deemed to have exceeded the tyre life lap limit will be reported to the Stewards as being run in an unsafe condition.
- This information will be formally communicated to the teams in the Race Directors’ notes and further updates issued as required.
"Laps to the grid, formation laps and laps following the chequered flag for the Sprint and Race will not be counted," according to the updated Pirelli Preview document that was released moments ago:
Maximum number of laps permitted for the race on each single set including all tyres history: 18laps.
Laps to the grid, formation laps and laps following the chequered flag for the Sprint and Race will not be counted. For the used sets effective number of laps considered from previous sessions will be the total amount, reduced by 2laps. For the sake of clarity a document with remaining laps available for each set will be distributed to the teams.
https://www.fia.com/... Preview V2.pdf
Enjoy the race and try to keep things civil. We're here to enjoy ourselves.
*Not Grand Prix.
