Simone Berra: The results are close to our calculations.

      Over two practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring, drivers worked with all three tire compounds provided by Pirelli for the Austrian round of the season. According to the statistics from the first day of the weekend, they completed 494 laps (38%) on the Medium tires, 463 laps (35.62%) on the Soft tires, and 343 laps on the Hard tires.

      Simone Berra, Pirelli’s Chief Engineer: “The first day largely confirmed our expectations. Despite yesterday’s rain, the track was already fairly well rubbered in, so there was only a limited improvement in lap times throughout the day.

      Looking back at the events of 2024, the weekend schedule included a sprint back then, whereas this year the teams will take full advantage of three hours of practice before parc fermé conditions come into force. Moreover, temperatures today were five degrees lower, although they are expected to rise in the coming days, especially on Sunday.

      That’s why today’s best times are comparable to last year’s pole time and are close to our simulated predictions (1’04’’).

      The difference in lap times between the compounds also matches our expectations: between Hard and Medium it’s about two tenths (although this is a calculated value, since we didn’t do a direct comparison), and between Medium and Soft it’s about half a second. The same applies to the level of degradation, provided race day temperatures are as forecast.

      It was interesting to see all three compounds in action, even though we believe the most popular choices for the race will be Hard and Medium tires. But today the Soft tires also worked quite well on long runs, and in qualifying mode drivers managed to set good times on their second and even third flying lap. However, it’s important to remember that much hotter weather is forecast for Sunday.”