Teams opt for supersofts for inaugural Baku race

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Teams have opted for a number of supersoft compound tyres for the first Grand Prix of Europe in Azerbaijan.

With no past data ahead of the inaugural race on the Baku City Circuit, Pirelli nominated the medium, soft and supersoft compounds rather than bringing the ultrasoft to a street circuit. As a result, the majority of teams have stocked up on supersoft tyres, with Mercedes one of five teams to choose eight sets along with Red Bull, Renault, Toro Rosso and Haas.

The two Mercedes drivers have slightly different allocations, with Lewis Hamilton receiving four sets of softs and one set of mediums, while Rosberg has three softs and two mediums. The difference is because Mercedes will plan on Rosberg completing his long run during Friday practice on medium tyres while Hamilton will use softs.

Ferrari takes seven sets of supersofts, five softs and one set of mediums for each driver, with Williams, Force India, McLaren and Manor also having seven sets of supersofts.

Sauber is the only team with six sets of supersofts, with Felipe Nasr also receiving six softs in a more conservative selection.

©Pirelli

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.