The FIA has enforced tyre stints of maximum 18 laps for Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix after consulting with Pirelli and F1 teams, and taking into account the latter’s forensic analysis of its tyres from Saturday’s sprint event.
The mandated tyre life, which will hopefully safeguard the integrity of Pirelli's tyres, now guarantees a three-stop race minimum for all competitors, a format that could impact the performance of those drivers whose tyre inventory may not be optimal for a three-stopper.
Regarding used sets of tyres from Friday and Saturday, it is understood that FIA has accepted that teams add two more laps to a set's usage to account for slower in-laps and out- laps.
For instance, if a tyre was used for 5 laps in practice or qualifying, and taking into account the 18-lap limit, it would be allowed to be used for 15 more laps in the race.
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Regarding Pirelli’s analysis, the FIA said that due to the frequency of Safety Car interventions in yesterday’s Sprint, the tyre data available for analysis by Pirelli “was insufficient to add to that already undertaken following previous track sessions”.
“In some cases, tyres that were analysed from the Sprint did show the initial onset of the separation in the sidewall between the topping compound and the carcass cords of the tyres,” the governing body stated.
“As was the case in Free Practice 1, this issue has likely been caused by the high-frequency interference between the tyre sidewall and the 50mm ‘pyramid’ kerbs used extensively at this circuit, aggravated by the propensity to ride those kerbs.
“As a consequence, it has been decided by the FIA and Pirelli and after consultation with the teams on safety grounds, the following measures will be implemented for today’s Qatar Grand Prix:
-A mandatory limit of 18 laps of total tyre life per set will be imposed.
-The life of already used tyres will be taken into consideration.
-The FIA and Pirelli will communicate to the teams the remaining available laps for each set of used tyres at their disposal for the race and the criteria used to calculate that number.
-There is no direct mandate for at least three tyre-change pitstops during the race, however this will be a consequence of the above guidelines should the race run its entire race distance.
-Any car deemed to have exceeded the tyre life lap limit will be reported to the Stewards as being run in an unsafe condition.
-This information will be formally communicated to the teams in the Race Directors’ notes and further updates issued as required.
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