Three hours before the start of the Grand Prix on the San Paolo track the sun is shining. At the moment the asphalt temperature is 52 degrees, almost twenty more than those recorded at the start of the sprint race.
The change in weather conditions should have a significant impact on tire management, changing the values on the field seen in the 24 laps completed yesterday, which rewarded those who had focused on the soft compound.
Max Verstappen and George Russell in a tussle in the Sprint Race
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The problems accused by Max Verstappen, that is an excessive degradation of the average tires, with the increase in temperatures should be less accentuated, and it cannot be excluded that the duration of the soft (yesterday able to finish the race without particular problems) is less . The track tires could help, the fuel load (especially in the opening laps) less.
The Pirelli simulations focus decisively on a two-stop race, with the most popular strategy that involves starting with the soft and two subsequent stints with medium sets, widely available to all twenty riders.
In the case of Verstappen (the only one of the big names to have two new sets of ‘reds’) there is the possibility of mounting a single set of mediums should the yield of the compound confirm the problems that emerged yesterday.
If the temperatures confirm high, Mercedes will have to fear overheating of the rear tires, unlike Red Bull, which sees the heat as a way to reduce the front end problems that have been affecting the Verstappen weekend since the first tests on Friday.
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