Pirelli Motorsport’s Mario Isola believes the temperature helped the one stop strategy come out on top at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton secured victory in Mexico City for Mercedes AMG Motorsport on a one stop strategy as he was able to nurse his hard compound tyres to the end and hold off the Scuderia Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon attempted a two stop strategy but a poor second pitstop cost the Ferrari vital seconds and the two of them ended up finishing fourth and fifth.
Isola says the track temperatures being higher than on Friday and Saturday along with the lack of rain meant the tyres were lasting longer than people expected, helping the drivers on a one stop strategy.
“There were a number of different strategies at work during the race, with drivers also reacting to what the others were doing.
“The one-stopper was helped to be made possible by track temperatures that were warmer than previous days and no more rain, meaning that there was less sliding and reduced graining, which tipped the balance back towards one or two stops, rather than two or more.”
All the drivers used the hardy tyre with some going long to begin with such as Daniel Ricciardo and others going to the end like Hamilton and Vettel did and Isola believes that was crucial to deciding the outcome of the race.
“The hard tyre was the crucial one for the race and we saw some very long stints run on this compound.
“Lewis Hamilton in particular made the very most of it in order to seal another win, despite not being on the front row of the grid, on a track where overtaking is always quite tricky.”
