The 10 F1 teams are set for a strategic headache at the São Paulo Grand Prix, with one-stop and two-stop options in play for the 71-lap race.
Pirelli believes the former will be difficult to execute, given the rate of degradation seen across the one-third distance sprint, which saw the soft compound struggle to hold on, despite a red-flag interruption eight laps in.
This could push teams towards a two-stopper, but the complexion of that approach still offers considerable unknowns.
Drivers, including Oscar Piastri, have complained about the surprising lack of performance from the red-walled tyres — the softest in the range but one step harder than at Interlagos 12 months ago.
This could push teams towards a two-stop strategy with two uses of the medium compound, but Pirelli insists the softs are quicker on raw pace.
"We have important information from qualifying, because a couple of drivers decided to use the medium instead of the soft, so it was possible to verify that the delta lap time that we were estimating of two to three tenths of a second is there," Pirelli motorsport director Mario Isola explained to the media, including RacingNews365.
"If you look — especially — at the last run of [George] Russell and [Kimi] Antonelli, Russell decided to move to the medium and didn't improve too much, while Antonelli was again on a second set of soft, and he was improving quite a lot.
"That's clearly an indication of the track evolution, but also that there is a difference between the medium and the soft. I believe this is the most important information."
A multitude of options
Russell, in particular, is in a precarious position, with his only new tyre available being the unfavoured hard.
He starts from sixth, but Isola does not believe the white-walled compound will be a viable option in Brazil, given the cooler temperatures expected.
This, coupled with rain this morning, could see the Mercedes driver spend the entire grand prix on scrubbed or used tyres.
"That means that with a green track and lower temperature, the hard is not really an option for the race," Isola said before elaborating on the various strategies he expects to be seen.
"We understood from the teams that they are focusing more on the medium and the soft, but if they want to plan a one-stop strategy, soft-medium — that is, on paper, the quickest, but also very marginal in terms of wear.
"If the plan is to go with a one-stop strategy, soft-medium, the pit stop window should be around lap 24 to 30. So with a soft in the first stint, the wear is an issue. It is something that they [the teams] have to consider.
"If it is not possible to plan a race on a one stop, or to finish the race with a one stop, soft-medium-medium, or soft-medium-soft again are all good options."
Max Verstappen, on the other hand, will spend the entire race on new tyres. After being knocked out in Q1, the Red Bull driver will be hoping to make up good ground from his pit lane start after taking on a new power unit.
That will, however, not save the Milton Keynes-based squad from the same difficult decisions the rest of the paddock will face.
"If I look at the total race time, they are very close, or in the case of soft-medium-medium, it's slightly quicker... but if you add the coefficient for traffic [in Pirelli's model], it becomes slightly slower — but they are quite close. So all these three strategies are possible," Isola continued.
"Otherwise, if someone wants to use the hard, it could be soft-hard or medium-hard. Both strategies are possible, but I'm expecting a track with not a lot of grip...
"We didn't have graining, we didn't have abrasion. So it's all as usual, a matter of thermal degradation and keeping the tyre within the working window; overheating is possible if they push.
"We know that with the current cars, it's difficult to follow the car in front because they lose a little bit of downforce and they start sliding, especially here."
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