Forcing drivers to make an extra pit stop would not encourage more overtaking in processional races like last week’s Japanese Grand Prix, says Carlos Sainz Jnr.
More than half the field finished in the same positions they started in Sunday’s 53-lap race at Suzuka. This prompted concerns from some about the quality of racing over the rest of the season.Sainz believes softer compounds will help generate more racing. “What creates overtaking, in my opinion, is to have a delta to the car in front,” said the Williams driver.
“If you’re only one tenth [of a second] quicker in F1, you’re never going to pass. You need to be five, six, seven tenths quicker than the car in front around Suzuka to overtake. The only way to generate that in Suzuka is with degradation.
“So I would be happy if they’re going to maybe go a step softer in compounds. Given that the tyre is more robust, going softer in compound will increase degradation and increase the chance of overtaking.”
The FIA has already approved a one-off rule change for the Monaco Grand Prix which will force drivers to change tyres twice instead of once, in the hope that will create more changes of position. However Sainz does not believe such a rule would have made last week’s race more eventful.
“If you go for the three [mandatory stints] at a track like Suzuka, for example, you’ll have flat-out racing with the three compounds and the pit stop laps will always be more or less the same, in that we all stopped [within] one lap. You will not get a tyre delta or an overtaking delta.
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“For me it’s more [about] trying to make sure the races are always between a one- and a two-stop, because like that you will have teams trying to do one stops with high degradation and other teams running faster on a two stop to try and overtake and make it to the flag. So that’s my opinion.”
Sainz pointed out drivers had urged Pirelli to create tyres which are more resistant to overheating, so they can race close together, rather than increase tyre degradation. “We need to kind of all organise a bit our thoughts and give Pirelli more of a clear understanding and target,” he said.
“Fair play for Pirelli for doing a step we’ve always asked them to, for the tyres to degrade less and be less sensitive to overheating,” he added. “They’ve done a step and this year so far, we can push more in the race.
“Now we are back into easy one-stop races and we are complaining that there is not enough deg and we want more deg. So first of all I think F1 needs to get all together to kind of follow a bit the same narrative because we ask for one thing, the product improves, and then suddenly we all complain again. It’s a bit of a mess, if you ask me.”
Pirelli has announced it will bring softer compounds for the three races which follow this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. F1’s official tyre supplier has selected its C3, C4 and C5 compounds for Jeddah and Miami, and the C4, C5 and new softest C6 compound for Imola, all of which are one stage softer than it chose last year.
Jack Doohan believes cooler conditions and changes to the track surface at Suzuka made overtaking more difficult and predicted the same won’t be the case this weekend in Bahrain.
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“We have circuits that have a higher chance of overtakes, and less,” he said. “And that was such unique circumstances of the conditions, how cold it was.
“Sector one, which is usually somewhere which is so crucial in tyre management, now we saw it with the new surface, which we could push flat-out on. So we didn’t really have so many corners that we were struggling with management. So I think it was quite unique.
“I reckon we’re going to be surprised come Sunday night here in this heat with, I think, 38kph gusts coming, and the topic of tyre management or complaining will be maybe a little bit different.”
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2025 Japanese Grand Prix
- McLaren has to accept upsetting either of its drivers sometimes – Stella
- Verstappen ‘can test our car, I look forward to seeing his disappointment’ – Norris
- Verstappen insists McLaren domination claim was ‘no joke’ after Piastri’s doubt
- Extra mandatory pit stop won’t create more passing at tracks like Suzuka – Sainz
- Mercedes took note of Verstappen’s out-lap tactics after stunning Suzuka pole position
Jere (@jerejj)
10th April 2025, 15:27
He couldn’t be more right.
Occasional dull or largely straightforward races are simply inevitable & have been a norm since the beginning.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
10th April 2025, 15:42
2 out of 3 dull so far. Last time they mandated extra stops it produced a cracker. Let’s see but long seasons create too little jeopardy and soporific racings that’s for sure
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th April 2025, 22:11
@tonymansell I wouldn’t have called it a cracker, but as the alternative was for the race to be called off entirely…
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
11th April 2025, 11:54
I would, others did also.
Dom
10th April 2025, 16:02
In a perfect world they would eliminate the chicane so the cars have DRS after 130R
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
10th April 2025, 16:08
The thing is that we saw that when Pirelli were bringing tyres with more degredation it just ended up with drivers managing there pace to at times extreme degrees which not only often didn’t do anything to improve the racing but it also reduced the chance of drivers making mistakes as well as made the overall spectacle worse due to how far below the limit drivers were.
I said a few days ago that I feel that F1 been as close as it is now is both a blessing & a curse because while on one hand it’s great to see lap times so close in qualifying which is also great for the marketing teams but at the same time when you have such small performance deltas between the cars it doesn’t really help when it comes to the racing.
I do agree with Carlos that the answer isn’t more mandatory pit stops as that just takes away some of the strategy options we do sometimes see which does make races more interesting.
I go back to the race that gave us the push towards high-deg tyres to begin with, That been the 2010 Canadian GP. The thing that everyone in F1 always overlooks with that race is that the fact the tyres were suffering a lot of degredation wasn’t the thing that made that such a good/memorable race… It was the fact that it was so unexpected, That nobody had prepared for it & nobody really knew how to handle it which made that such a good GP.
And the biggest failing of the subsequent high-deg philosophy was that it went from been something unexpected to been something everyone knew was going to happen and therefore something everyone focussed on learning how to manage.
It’s like Bernie’s sprinkler idea. We know that changeable weather often leads to unpredictable and exciting races but if that element became something everyone knew was going to happen at some point in every race you would lose the element that makes those races so great because it would become something everyone would plan for in terms of car designs, setups, driving styles & strategies.
Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
10th April 2025, 16:33
Relaxing parc ferme may be the quick solution given that the spending cap should prevent things form becoming the “wild west”. As I’ve stated numerous times, lining the cars up fastest to slowest and putting them all on the same strategy is pretty much a blueprint for a procession. If the cars can be changed between qualifying and the race, we may see some get relatively faster and some lose pace.
Another option may be to limit the number of times a driver can use DRS. I’m not crazy about that, but it could be a quick and cheap fix.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
10th April 2025, 17:29
The cars are too big and too heavy and too aero dependent. The tyres are dreadful and have been for over a decade. I’m not sure if Ross Brawn has disappeared but his rules were a failure.
Jack
10th April 2025, 17:51
Either make it mandatory to use all 3 compounds in a race or bring back refuelling. Or both…
PeteB (@peteb)
10th April 2025, 19:46
There are series all over the world that have exciting racing whatever tyres they’re using and yet in F1, everyone blames Pirelli as if we’d have the most incredible, wheel-to-wheel battles for 72 laps if only Pirelli could get their act together…
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th April 2025, 22:11
@peteb It would help, because none of those other series have blancmange tyres on purpose.