Mario Isola feels there is potential for many different strategies to play out during Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix despite the soft tyre being the sole representative of Pirelli’s tyre compound range being utilised during Saturday’s Qualifying session.
Pirelli brought the three hardest compounds at their disposal this weekend to the Sakhir International Circuit, but the speed difference between the soft and medium was too much to risk for even the top teams on the grid, with the red-banded soft’s being the only call from one end of the pit lane to the other.
Isola, Pirelli Motorsport’s Head of F1 and Car Racing, says despite this fact, those outside the top ten will not require to start the race on the soft, so the medium or even the hard compounds may come into play early on during Sunday’s twilight Grand Prix.
“As usual, the drivers had to extract the most out of a circuit that was constantly changing with track temperatures dropping throughout qualifying,” said Isola. “So the timing of the laps was critical.
“We saw only the soft tyre used throughout qualifying, which means that the top 10 on the grid will all start on this compound, but a number of different strategies are viable options for the race – with all three compounds. So this means that we can look forward to some intriguing action tomorrow.”
Isola was also quick to congratulate pole sitter Charles Leclerc, who secured his maiden Formula 1 pole position in lap-record breaking fashion on Saturday evening for his new team Scuderia Ferrari.
“Congratulations to Charles Leclerc for his first pole position, having been quickest in every session throughout qualifying,” finished Isola.
