George Russell believes the new soft tyre Formula 1 has introduced for this weekend’s race will play into McLaren’s hands.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris dominated the last round of the world championship in Miami, where Russell finished 37 seconds behind in third place. The combination of hot track conditions and a soft tyre selection played to their strengths as the team’s car can control the temperature of its tyres better than its rivals.For this weekend’s race at Imola, Pirelli has selected softer tyres than last year including its new C6 compound, its softest option. It was originally conceived as a new tyre for street circuits such as Monaco, where F1 will race next week.
While this was intended to broaden the strategic options available to teams at a track where overtaking is difficult, Russell suspects the move will play into McLaren’s hands.
“There’s a lot of tyre degradation,” he told the official F1 channel after practice yesterday. “Obviously we’ve got the softest compounds here, first time of the season, so that sort of spices things up a bit.
“But we know McLaren generally seem to extend their advantage in those conditions. I had Oscar in my sights, then I didn’t. So that was a little bit… He sort of passed Max and went off [into the distance].
“So that’s just where we are at the moment as a team, we know our fight is with Max [Verstappen] and the Ferraris.”
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Russell likened Pirelli’s new tyre to the ‘hyper-soft’ compound it briefly introduced, which drivers tended to use in qualifying but much less often in races.
“In the quali run it was pretty good, to be honest,” said Russell. “I remember when Seb [Vettel] did an interview like six years ago in Monaco about using the hyper-soft for the first time. That’s sort of what I’m thinking as well, I think you know what I’m talking about.”
“We know this tyre isn’t really suited to a track like this,” he added. “But it mixes things up a bit, so that’s what we want.”
Other drivers, including Alexander Albon, said they doubt the change of tyre allocation will lead teams to use different strategies in the race.
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2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
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- Ferrari struggling to recreate set-up which “worked well” in Shanghai – Hamilton
- Verstappen told Red Bull to use Tsunoda before “hold him up” call
- ‘Saturdays have been mine for years but for some reason it’s drifted away’ – Norris
- “Plan C?”: Why McLaren only got their strategy right for one driver at Imola
Ferdi
17th May 2025, 10:58
We better get used to McLaren being benefitted. It is clearly a done deal with the FIA they will win both championships this season. I am fine with the great McLaren winning again, as I am a huge fan. It is however becoming quite hollow if they are so favoured. But I guess they won’t mind in the end.
F1 under current FIA and Liberty leadership will see an increased scripting of the season, similar to the scripting and twisting of Drive to Survive. Make no mistake, Liberty’s core business is to optimise entertainment franchises. They have been doing this for years and are very good at it. They know what they are doing as they have extensive experience with what works for the masses and what doesn’t.
Coventry Climax
17th May 2025, 12:50
I don’t care what they’re good at, it still doesn’t make it right.
But I doubt this direction will ever change again, as there’s too much money and power involved.
Old habits take a long and hard time dying, but all of this makes finding another interest much easier for me.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
17th May 2025, 18:07
You gotta figure, in 2008 when big finance wrecked a whole bunch of home owners in order to buy low, they needed assurances their investments would bear fruit.
The control tire, control electronics, controlling the fuel consumption, control this control that, all the inputs which are vital to determining the output of anyone system.
It’s all about investor confidence. Value, and the guys who own this stuff getting loans so they don’t have to pay taxes while they bilk the working man with higher and higher prices. Which is what the futures (like CME Group) market is turning in to, a way to price everyone out of the competition so they can maximize their confidence/control.
A great read is Foundation by Isaac Asimov. His ‘psychohistory’ is actually based on the same phenomenon that the financial guys use to manipulate, schedule and push certain initiatives (the same fundamental/universal process). Highly recommend the read or watch.