Ferrari have chosen fewer sets of soft tyres than any team for next week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc have each chosen two sets of the soft C4 compound tyres for the race at the Baku City Circuit. Rivals Mercedes have taken one more set for each of their drivers while the Red Bull pair will have nine each.Renault, McLaren and Racing Point have each selected 10 sets of softs for their drivers.
Ferrari has chosen more medium C3 compound tyres than any team, with five sets per car, while Mercedes has taken four sets for its two W10s.
Last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix was won by Lewis Hamilton who pitted twice and used all three of the available compounds during the race.
2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix tyre selections
| Driver | Team | Hard (C2) | Medium (C3) | Soft (C4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Daniel Riccairdo | Renault | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Lando Norris | McLaren | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| George Russell | Williams | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Robert Kubica | Williams | 1 | 3 | 9 |
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Joao (@johnmilk)
16th April 2019, 10:16
Weren’t teams using the Baku straight to run tests in the last couple of years? Maybe that could explain Ferrari’s decision.
I think Rosberg was saying that they have a aerodynamic problem in the car.
robinsonf1 (@)
16th April 2019, 11:13
Maybe they think they can get through Q1 & Q2 on the mediums and want to make sure they have new tyres for the race.
That said, I would expect most people to go softer choices in Baku considering how many safety cars/stoppages we’ve had there in the last couple of years. No point sticking on the hard tyre and staying out whilst everyone changes to soft and then safety car brings them back into play.
Jean-Christophe
16th April 2019, 12:50
“Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc have each chosen two sets of the soft C4 compound tyres”.
That got me confused. Should have been 7 sets, shouldn’t it?
Chaitanya
16th April 2019, 13:53
Has this team forgotten lessons from last years Baku GP already? Just like last year this year as well air temps are expexted to hang around 18°C. So they are boxing themselves into a corner with those soft tyre numbers.
Tim
17th April 2019, 7:40
Softest tyre isn’t mean easiest to heat up.
vjanik (@vjanik)
16th April 2019, 15:45
Would be interesting to see what the teams would chose if they had free choice, and if there wasnt a mandatory tyre.
I dont think you would see C1 and C2 in any of the races. Pirelli should stop making them and sending them all over the world.
MacLeod (@macleod)
16th April 2019, 16:26
first time the three top teams have different choices at all.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
19th April 2019, 23:32
I see Ricciardo has more hard tyres than Hulkenberg. I do hope that if Daniel is going to use a one stop strategy then there’s a realistic chance of him finishing with a good result.