Isola: We don't have a clear picture of tire behavior yet.

      Pirelli tire specialists summed up the results of Friday's training sessions, but Mario Isola, head of racing programs at the Italian company, had to admit that they had not yet achieved a complete understanding of the behavior of rubber on the track in Jeddah.

      Mario Isola, director of Pirelli Motorsport: "The day turned out quite well, except that at the end of the second practice session, red flags were posted on the track, which prevented the drivers from continuing the long series of laps, although this point on Friday's program is also very important for the rest of the weekend.

      Overall, both we and the teams have been able to gather a lot of information, but still, we probably don't have a clear picture of tire behavior over long laps in the conditions that await the drivers during Sunday's Grand Prix.

      However, on such a high-speed and difficult route as in Jeddah, you need to be prepared for the fact that work may be interrupted.

      As far as we can see, the choice in favor of softer rubber compounds did not significantly affect the overall picture. Judging by the several long series that some teams managed to complete, we did not notice any excessive signs of granulation.

      Moreover, we have seen that this phenomenon remains at the same level from session to session – therefore, this factor should be taken into account when choosing an approach to tires during the race, when it will be necessary to control its degradation.

      If we talk about lap time, the degradation was about at last year's level or maybe a little higher. Therefore, there is no reason to assume that the tactics of the teams will change significantly. In theory, the scheme that allows you to cover the distance as quickly as possible remains the option with a single pit stop.

      Probably, the option with two stops in the boxes is already more efficient than last year, but still not fast enough to become a reasonable alternative."