STrategy
Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas all qualified on the medium tyre in Q2, whereas the rest of the top 10 are on softs. It would have been the top three on mediums but Bottas’ grid penalty means he starts fifth, with Lando Norris and Sergio Perez ahead of him.
A one-stop strategy is once again the aim, but there are options for those starting on the mediums, depending on which tyre they want to run in the second part of the race. A medium-hard strategy would allow an attacking race and is most likely if temperatures are high during the race, with a pit stop window between laps 28 and 32.
The other option is to run longer on the mediums and switch to softs later on, when the fuel load will have come down and the lighter car can look after the rear tyres better. For that, expect to see a first stint of more than 40 laps, with a pit stop coming between laps 41 and 46.
One other option is to try a two-stop, especially when the previous race in France is taken into account. If track conditions are cooler but dry, then there’s a chance the front left becomes a limiting factor too, and teams could go for an earlier first stop to switch to mediums, before a final stint on another set of softs.
The upside is the strategic flexibility provided by the first stop, allowing a team to choose when to pit to avoid traffic and push harder on their tyres in each stint.