Pirelli on difference between Verstappen and Bottas: 'Compounds very similar'.

Max Verstappen drove the fastest time at Paul Ricard today, but Valtteri Bottas was only eight thousandths of a second behind him on a harder compound. Verstappen drove his fastest time on the soft tyres, whilst Bottas did so on the mediums.

Slower than two years ago

Pirelli's Mario Isola discussed Friday's practice in France in a press release. "The free practice went more or less as we expected," said the Italian. "The FP2 time was slower than the equivalent session in 2019. Mainly due to the stronger wind today and partly due to a partial re-profiling of the track."

Difference Verstappen and Bottas

The Pirelli chief also has an explanation for minimal difference between Verstappen and Bottas on different compounds. "We have seen that the medium and soft compounds are very much matched, so they will both come into play in qualifying tomorrow and will also have a big effect on the race strategy."

Interesting tyre strategies

The teams were able to collect plenty of good data today on the different compounds, including with different amounts of fuel. "So it will be interesting to see how all that translates into the strategy calculation and the different approaches to qualifying tomorrow, which will again be run in hot and dry conditions here."