John N
Pirelli announced their tire compound allocation for the first Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
F1’s tire suppliers have chosen the middle three tires in their range: white-banded C2 hard compounds (x2 sets), yellow-banded C3 medium compounds (x3 sets), and red-banded C4 soft compounds (x8 sets).
Pirelli has opted to bring the most commonly-used combination of compounds to the brand-new Miami International Autodrome with expected top speeds of 320km/h, 19 corners, three straights, and three DRS zones.
“There’s been a huge buzz of excitement around the first Miami Grand Prix, where the track has some similarities to Jeddah, although there are some parts that are slower and more technical than Saudi Arabia: especially the section from Turns 11 to 16,” said Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola.
“The rest is a speedy layout, running anti-clockwise, emphasizing the tires on the car’s right-hand side. We’re expecting the usual rapid track evolution and a smooth surface with the new asphalt, but the track has been jet-washed at high pressure, which means that it should offer quite a good grip from the beginning.
“Because it’s a fast track, the cars are likely to run a low to medium downforce set-up, leading to a bit of sliding in the high-speed corners on the hard compounds in particular. Our choice tends to be conservative for any new track, so it will be interesting to confront the simulations with real data.”
Pirelli’s in-season testing program got underway at Imola, with Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri, Alpine, and Ferrari testing next year’s slick prototype tires in warm weather.
