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Pirelli reveals: Hamilton must beware of Perez's faster strategy

Pirelli reveals: Hamilton must beware of Perez's faster strategy

18-04-2021 10:41 Last update: 10:48
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GPblog.com

After two days of practice and qualifying, Pirelli have made a clear picture of the likely options in strategy for the ten teams that will race the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix today. With a track where overtaking is difficult, strategy is even more important than in Bahrain, where there are multiple overtaking opportunities.

Pirelli therefore expects there to be mainly one-stoppers. "It is difficult to overtake, the loss of time in the pitlane is very high and the wear is quite low. Therefore, a two-stopper is clearly slower," Pirelli explained in its review of the Saturday sessions. The fastest strategy is to start on the softest tyre and finish the race on the yellow medium. This would mean that Sergio Perez would have the advantage in strategy and could therefore attack Lewis Hamilton.

How can Red Bull win the race?

"Some of the front-runners have chosen to run on the yellow tyre in Q2 and will therefore start on that tyre. If it remains dry, then all tyre compounds will play an important role. The drivers who start on the softest tyre will not be at an immediate disadvantage because wear is low and the weather conditions are likely to be cold," Mario Isola explains.

So the fastest strategy is a big advantage for Perez and Red Bull Racing. This will allow them to attack Hamilton, while Max Verstappen will try to snatch the win away from both drivers from P3. The Mexican is on the fastest strategy according to Pirelli, so Red Bull has plenty of chances to pull the win to the team from Austria.