John N
Pirelli will give Formula One’s next generation of tires a challenging debut in Bahrain this weekend. The brand-new 18-inch Pirelli tires have a tough test in Bahrain, with high temperatures, sand, and an abrasive surface their main challenges. This weekend will see Pirelli supply C1 (hard, x2 sets), C2 (medium, x3 sets), and C3 (soft, x8 sets) compounds – one step harder than the 2019-specification tires – for practice, qualifying, and the race. Furthermore, teams will have to use the soft tires in Q3 and will not be required to start the race on their qualifying tires throughout the season.
“We’ve opted for the hardest tires in the range for this first Grand Prix, given the track layout, asphalt characteristics, and temperatures: also because the compounds are different compared to previous years,” said Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola.
The teams had the chance to get familiar with the 2022 18-inch tire range, having spent a total of six days of testing with all the compounds, although not always in representative conditions.
Based on the past, track temperatures can play an important role in Bahrain. The teams noticed this during the recent test, and that’s something the spectators should keep in mind during the race. FP1, FP2, and qualifying are different from the race in that the track temperature is higher – during the race it should be milder compared to FP1, FP2, and qualifying. That being said, it’s hard to predict the race strategy as Bahrain has been a multi-stop race in previous years. It will be interesting to see if anyone will try something different this year.
This weekend will also see the start of the Formula 2 and Formula 3 seasons. Pirelli has nominated the white-walled hard compound and red-banded soft compound tires for this opening F2 weekend. For F3, the white hard compound tire is the sole nominated tire.
