Formula 1’s sole tyre supplier Pirelli suggests the Italian Grand Prix is likely to be a one-stop race for the eighth round of the 2020 World Championship at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Lewis Hamilton dominated the previous race in Belgium around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with a simple one-stop strategy, leading a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas over the line with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third.
The threat of rain is low with temperatures expected to be around 25C for the duration of the race.
All of the drivers successfully progressed into Q3 on the Soft tyres and will begin the race on the set which they set their fastest time in Q2.
Those who did not make it through to Q3 will have a free choice of starting tyres for the 53-lap Grand Prix.
According to Pirelli, the fastest way to get to the end is a one-stop strategy by starting on the Soft tyres and crossing over to the Mediums on lap 24.
The Italian manufacturer also suggests the opposite would also have the same effect.
The second-quickest way to attack the race is a different one-stop option, this would be to run with the Soft for 24 laps and then to switch to the Hard for 29 laps.
The next slowest one-stop option is to begin the race on the yellow-marked Mediums, then switch to the Hard compound on lap 27.
A two-stop strategy is also an option, but would be the slowest strategy. This would require two stints of 16 laps on the Soft tyre, followed by 21 laps on the Mediums.
Pirelli suggests all of the above strategies are very close in terms of overall race time and that it would be down to individual race circumstances within the race.
“Everything went very smoothly from a tyre point of view,” said Mario Isola, Head of F1 and Car Racing.
“Tomorrow should be a one-stop race but there are different variations of one-stoppers that can be applied, opening several strategic possibilities.
“The top 10 will all start on the soft tyre tomorrow, levelling up the playing field, so it will be interesting to see how many drivers from P11 downwards decide to try something different by starting on the medium or hard in what are expected to be warm conditions.
“Mercedes was the only team to run the medium in qualifying, which otherwise featured the soft from start to finish, but the harder compounds are set to play an important role in the race.
“Once more, we saw another track record comprehensively broken this weekend – but this one is particularly significant, as it’s on the fastest circuit of them all, and our home race.”
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