F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Mercedes, Ferrari go softer than Red Bull in Monza tyres

Pirelli has announced the tyre choices made by each team for the upcoming Italian Grand Prix, which sees Mercedes and Ferrari take one extra set of supersofts than Red Bull.

F1’s official supplier has nominated the medium, soft, and supersoft compound for Monza with most teams loading up on the red-marked rubber for the high-speed venue.

However, team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen - as well as the Sauber pairing - will have the fewest sets of supersofts available with six apiece, one less than their Mercedes and Ferrari rivals.

At the other end of that spectrum, newcomers Haas have gone for an aggressive strategy with nine sets of the softest compound available to Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez.

Overall, the Italian GP tyre selection reveals a lot of variety up and down the field, as well as within the teams. For instance, championship leader Lewis Hamilton will receive only one set of mediums against two for his team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg.

With Pirelli making one set of mediums and one set of softs the mandatory race tyres for Monza - of which one set must be used - this means that Hamilton, but also Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, Renault’s Kevin Magnussen, and Grosjean have effectively not chosen any extra medium tyres.

Like in Germany before the summer break, the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg will have the biggest medium tyre allocation with three sets of the white-marked compound apiece.

All teams had to make their selection eight weeks in advance of the final European race of the season.

©Pirelli Motorsport

GALLERY: F1 drivers on summer break

How Eric Boullier keeps McLaren on its toes

Pascal Wehrlein interview: The rookie who wants to lead

F1i Classic - Mayhem, monsoon and the mother of all Belgian Grand Prix

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Austrian GP: Friday's action in pictures

As predicted, Friday at the Red Bull Ring unfolded under clear blue skies but scorching…

2 hours ago

Russell flags McLaren as genuine threat in Austrian GP heat

Mercedes may have ended Friday at the top of the timesheets in Spielberg, but George…

2 hours ago

Red Bull braces for another major exit as Monaghan linked to Cadillac

The revolving door at Red Bull Racing may not have stopped spinning just yet. A…

3 hours ago

Austrian GP: Hyper quick Antonelli keeps Mercedes on top in FP2

A quick and determined Kimi Antonelli finished Friday’s second practice at the Red Bull Ring…

4 hours ago

Austrian Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull…

4 hours ago

Verstappen wants F1 to avoid Spa 24 Hours clash in 2027

Max Verstappen is laser focused on Red Bull's home Formula 1 race in Spielberg, but…

5 hours ago