Berra: We expect there to be at least two pit stops in the race.

      At Pirelli Motorsport, summarizing Friday, it was noted that in both sessions the teams used tires from all three compounds, but logically, Lando Norris set the best time of the day in the second practice on the softest tires.

      The press service of the Italian company also mentioned that the day began with the presentation of a new richly illustrated book published by the Pirelli Foundation, dedicated to an important event: the company has already participated in 500 Grands Prix in Formula 1.

      The press conference organized for this occasion featured Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, Mohammed ben Sulayem, President of the FIA, Jean Todt, UN Special Representative for Road Safety, and Nick Heidfeld, former F1 driver. Pirelli was represented by Marco Tronchetti Provera, Executive Vice President of the company.

      Simone Berra, Chief Engineer at Pirelli: "Most teams today preferred not to work with the Hard compound, which means they saved both sets to use them in the race. The few drivers who did use it reported that it slid much more on the track than both softer compounds, resulting in tire overheating, and in terms of degradation, the hard tire was approaching the Medium and Soft levels.

      Overall, all compounds are subject to significant thermal degradation, especially the tires on the left side of the cars, which is related to the abrasiveness of the asphalt – in this regard, Barcelona is second only to Bahrain – the specific characteristics of the track, and the high temperatures that will rise even higher on Saturday and Sunday.

      When drivers were preparing for qualifying, they found it difficult to sufficiently cool the tires during such runs to properly complete a second fast lap. In the best cases, the time on it was comparable to the previous attempt.

      Thus, we expect that there will be at least two pit stops in the Sunday race. The best grip is provided by the Medium and Soft compounds, with their degradation levels being roughly the same, although, according to the information gathered on the first day of the weekend, the yellow-marked tires adapt better to this track.

      The speed difference between these compounds is about 0.5-0.6 seconds per lap."