Isola: The decision to bring C1 was not a mistake.

Isola: The decision to bring C1 was not a mistake.

      This year, Pirelli brought "alternating" compounds to Spa – C1, C3, and C4, but in the first two days, the team did not use the most hard tires. Pirelli believes that the decision to bring C1 was not a mistake...

      Mario Isola, Pirelli: "As always during a sprint weekend, Saturday was busy. In the sprint, we gathered a lot of useful information about the Medium tires, which most drivers used. The load on the tires here is high, but we did not observe significant wear, and we noticed the absence of granulation yesterday during practice.

      Regarding strategy, the key factor will be the weather. The forecast promises rain, so there are many options. If the race takes place on a dry track with cooler temperatures than today or yesterday, Soft and Medium will be the most effective. Since the difference between one and two pit stops is not very large, any combination of these compounds is possible.

      This does not mean that the decision to bring the hardest C1 compound to Spa was a mistake. If we had used the same three compounds as last year, a one-stop strategy would have had a clear advantage. Additionally, overtaking on this track is difficult even with DRS, as was evident during the Formula 3, Formula 2, and Formula 1 sessions this weekend.

      This means that starting position and the first sector of the first lap will play a crucial role, and a good slipstream can provide an advantage.

      If the race starts on dry asphalt but with rain forecasted, everyone will choose Medium – this compound offers more flexibility in managing the transition to wet tires or extending the first stint as long as possible."

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Isola: The decision to bring C1 was not a mistake.

Pirelli brought the "odd" compounds – C1, C3, and C4 – to Spa, but during the first two days, the team did not use the softest tires...