Among the novelties of the new race weekend format introduced this weekend in Baku is a different tire management. Of the twelve sets available for each driver (2 of hard, 4 of medium and 6 of soft) three are imposed by the regulation for the Sprint Shootout (the qualification that determines the starting grid of the sprint race) scheduled today.
In the SQ1 and SQ2 rounds it will be mandatory to use medium tyres, while in SQ3 it will be switched to the soft ones, but the most binding aspect for teams and drivers is specified in the new regulation which imposes the use of sets of new tyres.
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
This aspect has led to an unprecedented situation in view of the Sprint Shootout, since both Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda (seventh and eighth respectively in yesterday’s qualifying) will not be able to be on the track if they manage to enter Q3. Both have already used the 6 sets of soft tires available and if they finish Q2 in the top-10, qualifying will in fact be over for them as they have no new trains available.
In Norris’s case, Q1 complicated his plans, in which, thanks to the two red flags, he used no less than three sets of softs, which were added to the set previously used in FP1. The English driver was particularly unlucky in the second run when, as soon as he came out of the pits, he found himself again with the session interrupted, and the McLaren engineers decided to assemble a new train to avoid running into problems related to the drop in temperatures.
Norris subsequently passed the cut of Q2 with only one set, and once in Q3 the team and Lando himself evaluated whether or not it was the case to use the sixth and last set available. The desire to aim for the top-5 prevailed, driven by the good behavior of the single-seater.
In the end, Lando commented with mixed feelings on what is currently his best qualifying of the season: “I think we could have aimed for fourth position, it was within our possibilities and I’m a bit disappointed. We didn’t do the best job as a team, and I won’t be able to ride in Q3 tomorrow. There are many other positive aspects, but this weighs a little”.
McLaren underlined that the strategic decision was dictated by the possibility of earning more points in Sunday’s Grand Prix rather than in the sprint race, and efforts have been directed in that direction.
Even Tsunoda, if he manages to access Q3, will attend the session as a spectator. In the case of the AlphaTauri driver, it was a different dynamic that determined the depletion of the soft tire sets.
The team decided to use two sets of ‘reds’ in the free practice session to better prepare for qualifying, in which the engineers didn’t think they’d be able to access Q3. Tsunoda, on the other hand, proved to be immediately competitive, with the tenth position conquered in Q1 (in which he used two sets) and the seventh in Q2, also in this case using two sets. Access to Q3 forced the Japanese to mount one of the previously used sets, still managing to finish in eighth position, an unexpected result on the eve of the weekend.
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