Verstappen’s Ninth Symphony

Max Verstappen took his ninth win of the season at the end of what was a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix, especially the second half. The Dutchman took the lead going into the first corner after the start, passing George Russell (Mercedes) and from then on he stayed in front all the way to the chequered flag. Joining him on the podium were Charles Leclerc second for Ferrari and Oscar Piastri third for McLaren.

This was the 63^rd win of Verstappen’s career, the second out of three editions of this Grand Prix, while for Red Bull it was win number 122. Piastri took his tenth podium finish today from 45 race starts. 

THE DAY ON TRACK

All the drivers opted to start on the Medium tyre with the exception of Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) who went for the Hard. As expected, the one-stop was the preferred choice for all teams. Apart from those drivers involved in collisions on the opening lap, who had to pit immediately, everyone tried to extend the first stint on the Mediums as much as possible, getting to over half-distance. There were a few exceptions: George Russell (Mercedes) pitted after 23 laps, Valtteri Bottas switched to the Hard on the following lap and Kevin Magnussen (Haas), pitting after 27 laps. For the rest of the field, the run of pit stops began on lap 34, some coming in when the race was neutralised, to switch to the Hard tyre. Hulkenberg had already pitted to take on Mediums after lap 30. 

The Safety Car made three appearances. At the last two, the chance to pit costing less time, induced Williams and Racing Bulls to gamble on the Soft, but it did not pay off, as the characteristics of this track meant the C3 proved to have too much of a drop in performance.

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT

“As expected, this was a very busy weekend for us. In today’s race there were two front left tyre punctures on Sainz’s and Hamilton’s cars. As per procedure, we will now analyse in detail the damaged tyres, as well as a selection of other tyres. Along with the telemetry data we have acquired and on-board footage from the cars, they will be sent to our laboratory in Milan. In addition, we will carry out all the usual checks on the stresses to which the tyres were subjected.

This track has some rather peculiar characteristics: it is very severe in terms of the energy exerted on the tyres and in terms of tread wear, while not leading to a drop in performance. Clearly, this combination of factors can create a situation in which wear levels reach their limit, while the teams however try to lengthen the stint as much as possible in order to get the best possible result and we saw that confirmed today.

In yesterday’s Sprint, in some cases the level of wear had reached 100% on cars that had started with about one third the fuel load they took on board for today’s start. At this track, the left front is the tyre subjected to the greatest load and it’s no coincidence that both punctures were on this tyre. When you reach a certain level, then even the smallest piece of debris can cause a situation like the one we witnessed today.

As for the rest, the performance levels of the most used compounds – the C1 and the C2 – were very similar and, as mentioned earlier, with hardly any degradation. Therefore, the level of tyre management required was practically zero, with the drivers able to push as much as they liked, even though they were in fact running a one-stop strategy.”

The 2024 drivers’ title will go down to the wire at the final round in Abu Dhabi, with the two leaders, Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta Racing) and Isack Hadjar (Campos Racing), separated by just half a point (188.5 for the Brazilian and 188 for the Frenchman). Today, they both finished on the podium in third and second places respectively. Ahead of them, the winner was Estonia’s Paul Aron (Hitech Pulse-Eight) for whom this was his maiden victory in the category. 

As for the tyres, the Medium-Hard strategy was the most successful. Those who opted to go the other way round, for example Oliver Bearman (Prema Racing), who was leading up until the last two laps, were penalised by the many neutralisations, which meant that many of the drivers who had started on the Medium, were able to minimise time lost during their pit stop. The difference in warm-up and degradation between the compounds produced a spectacular race with plenty of overtaking.

PIRELLI IN MOTORSPORT

Founded in 1872, Pirelli is a company with deep Italian roots now recognised all over the world for its cutting-edge technology, capacity for innovation, and the quality of its products. Motorsport has always played an important part in Pirelli’s strategy, following the ‘race to road’ philosophy. The company has been engaged in motorsport for 117 years and today supplies tyres to more than 350 championships on both two and four wheels. Pirelli pays constant attention to the most efficient use of natural resources and energy, aiming to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.