The soft compound has performed better than expected at Spa-Francorchamps, and Pirelli believes it will cause a divergence in one-stop strategies when the Belgian Grand Prix gets underway.
Pirelli head of motorsport Dario Marrafuschi outlined the tyre supplier's expectation that the 44-lap race will be a straightforward one-stopper, with teams choosing between a medium-hard or soft-hard approach.
"Given the degradation level, both on medium and soft, our forecast is a one-stop race," Marrafuschi told media, including RacingNews365.
"The two-stop race is supposed to be 10 seconds slower over the race distance. So, in case of a clean strategy, it's not likely to be followed."
The soft tyre's unexpected lack of degradation has opened up a genuine strategic alternative, with Pirelli anticipating a split across the grid.
Where teams might typically default to a medium-hard one-stopper at Spa-Francorchamps, the red-walled compound has proven itself a credible race tyre for several outfits.
"[For the one-stop], we see two options: medium-hard or soft-hard," Marrafuschi added. "The medium and soft have similar degradation to each other; this is due to a better-than-expected behaviour of the soft.
"We have seen that the soft, for some teams, was also a better race tyre compared to the medium itself.
"So we expect maybe a split in the grid between medium-hard and soft-hard. With the first stint on the medium or soft, and then switching to the hard."
Should conditions change or the race prove more punishing on tyres than predicted, Pirelli's graphics show two-stop alternatives involving soft-hard-hard and soft-hard-medium combinations.
However, with the expected 10-second penalty for a second stop, teams would need a significant shift in circumstances to pursue that route.
Tyre availability will also play a role. Most teams preserved both sets of the C2 hard compound through Friday practice, keeping their options open for race day. Not every team was as conservative, though.
"Most of the teams have two sets of hard available, so this is also one of the reasons we expect the hard to be a race tyre," Marrafuschi pointed out.
"Only Audi, Cadillac, and Alpine have used one set of hards on Friday, so we expect the hard should be used."
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