Ferrari will take nine sets of the ultra-soft tyre for next week’s Singapore Grand Prix, two more than closest rivals Mercedes and Red Bull.
The two Ferrari drivers have differed slightly in their choices with Sebastian Vettel taking two sets of the soft, which is the hardest available tyre, while Kimi Raikkonen has just one.
The Italian team scored their most recent victory in last year’s race and are favouring the softest compound available at a circuit where Mercedes struggled last year.
The Mercedes drivers have taken more of the harder rubber, with three sets for Lewis Hamilton and four for Nico Rosberg. Red Bull’s drivers have taken the same allocation as each other, with seven sets of ultra-softs and four super-softs.
The only other drivers to join Ferrari in taking nine sets of ultra-softs are the Haas pair and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.
2016 Singapore Grand Prix tyre selection
| Driver | Team | Tyres |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | |
| Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | |
| Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | |
| Felipe Massa | Williams | |
| Valtteri Bottas | Williams | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | |
| Sergio Perez | Force India | |
| Kevin Magnussen | Renault | |
| Jolyon Palmer | Renault | |
| Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | |
| Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | |
| Felipe Nasr | Sauber | |
| Fernando Alonso | McLaren | |
| Jenson Button | McLaren | |
| Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | |
| Rio Haryanto | Manor | |
| Romain Grosjean | Haas | |
| Esteban Gutierrez | Haas |
BlueChris (@bluechris)
6th September 2016, 11:01
Meaning all the ferrari engine cars choose more softer compounds as i see it, i suppose a ferrari directive maybe?
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
6th September 2016, 17:32
@bluechris Ferrari directive? Only the Mercedes runners opted for harder tyres.
BlueChris (@bluechris)
6th September 2016, 22:16
you misunderstood i think, i speak for Ultrasofts
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
6th September 2016, 11:06
With the much hire tyre pressures lately, any team doing like Ferrari or Haas will be in trouble. Having to select compounds so early is absurd.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
6th September 2016, 12:10
@chrischrill Pirelli had high tire pressures the whole season. When experts are speaking about high pressures at Monza or Spa, they compare it to 2015 at the same venue. So I don’t think Haas or Ferrari will be in any particular trouble in Singapore
Ruben
6th September 2016, 11:08
Am I the only getting tired of Ferrari’s tyre choice? It’s always too aggressive.
It didn’t work for the previous races so why now?
Do they have such a big problem drawing Quali pace they have to waste 8 sets to get on it?
Patrick (@paeschli)
6th September 2016, 11:42
I’m asking myself the same question, they have been over aggressive the whole year and race after race they completely mess up their strategy.
bosyber (@bosyber)
6th September 2016, 12:54
Ruben, @paeschli, perhaps they know they are not going to win anything this year anyway – might as well make it a show (and mask their pace deficit a bit)?
montreal95 (@montreal95)
6th September 2016, 12:07
No it isn’t. Qualy pace has nothing to do with it. You should always aim to be on the softest tires that you think you can get away with. Because softer tires=faster tires. If they think their chassis or, more likely, seeing as Ferrari engine customers are doing the same, engine power delivery curve, can allow them to utilize the ultrasoft then that’s a no brainer. You’d have to be a massive idiot not to use an advantage that you have. That’s of course not yet an exact science in F1 and mistakes have been made but pushing the envelope is what you have to do. They’ll not get anywhere, choosing the same as Merc’s fastest car
And do explain please, how their aggressive choices failed at Spa and Monza? At Spa they were at their most competitive in a long while only for Verstappen to ruin their race. At Monza they’ve achieved the maximum possible result. In short, I just love it when armchair experts are sure they know better
Patrick (@paeschli)
6th September 2016, 23:36
@montreal95
At Spa temperatures were much higher than normal, meaning degradation was higher than anticipated (and the harder tyres were more suitable).
At Monza they should have tried a one stopper to keep Hamilton behind.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
6th September 2016, 23:52
@paeschli Keep Hamilton behind at Monza? Nothing short of a miracle would’ve accomplished that. Especially as that would’ve required Ferrari to get on the medium tires they’re never working well on. At Monza Merc’s pace advantage was just massive. a 2-stop supersoft-supersoft-soft was the fastest race for Ferrari
Nobody could know the temperatures at Spa. The fact is: without a slight mistake at Bus Stop Kimi would be on pole in Spa. He was only 0.166 off the closest Ferrari’s been all season and on the longest track of the year at that. Without the first corner incident the Ferraris could trouble Rosberg for the win, they had enough pace. So I don’t see a mistake in their tire choice at Spa either
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
7th September 2016, 20:01
They have been choosing different tyres but started almost every race with the same compounds as Mercedes…
jj_0
6th September 2016, 14:08
Good to see that Rio Haryanto is back in the driving seat ;-)
ColdFly F1 (@)
6th September 2016, 15:23
His sponsor probably paid for the tyres when ordering them 8 weeks ago ;-)
AceAce
6th September 2016, 14:18
Wish ultra ss’s were customary for every Damn race, now that would be some good racing and some good pit calls like a good game of chess.
Chris (@tophercheese21)
6th September 2016, 14:54
That’s a lot of grape soda.
Rooney (@rojov123)
6th September 2016, 21:02
@tophercheese21 And some Dr Pepper
Tornado (@tornado)
7th September 2016, 17:18
With a stark difference in the selection between Force India and Williams, it will be interesting to see their pit strategies in this race