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Hot temperatures and severe traction demands cause tires to overheat

Hot temperatures and severe traction demands cause tires to overheat

23-10-2021 10:06 Last update: 10:49

GPblog.com

The weather conditions at the United States Grand Prix are different from two years ago, when Formula One came to Austin for the last time. It is considerably warmer compared to previous races at the American circuit, which makes for a different tire strategy.

"Despite the circuit having been resurfaced for around 40% of its total length, there's not a huge difference in terms of abrasion compared to our last visit in 2019, and it's also even more bumpy,"  Mario Isola said on the website of Pirelli .

"The biggest difference has instead been the weather, with both track and ambient temperatures considerably warmer than the cool conditions experienced a couple of years ago. As expected in today's warm temperatures, there was a bit of overheating on the soft C4 compound rear tire, which is quite stressed given the severe traction demands of this circuit in the final sector especially."

Two-stopper during the race

Pirelli expects a two-stopper during the race. Many teams will try to get through Q2 on the medium tire and with the high wear on the track, a second stop will probably be necessary.

"Managing the soft tire looks to be key, and this is something that the teams will be looking at in more detail tomorrow, with some likely to try and get through Q2 on the medium tire in order to start with it on Sunday and open up a wider range of strategic possibilities for the race. However, with a bigger performance gap compared to the soft than we saw this morning, the soft certainly has its advantages too: especially with a two-stopper looking likely," added. Isola.