Formula 1 qualifying at this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola will feature revised rules concerning tyre usage. Not only is the number of total sets of tyres per driver being reduced, but the compound of tyre used in each segment will be mandated. RacingNews365 details everything you need to know.
F1 qualifying changes at Imola
Currently, drivers are free to use whatever type of tyre compound they wish during each segment of Qualifying - although most usually gravitate towards the Soft rubber owing to the instant grip it provides. However, for Imola, this will change. In Q1, the drivers will be forced to take the white-walled Hard tyres, with those advancing through to Q2 only permitted to run on the yellow-walled Medium compound. The 10 who then make it through to the pole position shootout will then have the chance to run the Soft tyres. The 18-15-12 minute segments of Qualifying will remain unchanged. Moreover, the total number of dry weather tyres available to each driver is to be reduced from 13 sets for the weekend to 11. It means drivers will have access to three sets of Hard tyres, four Medium and four Softs for the three practice sessions, Qualifying and the race. The allocation of Intermediate and Wet tyres remains unchanged. The scheme would likely save two tyre sets per car, per weekend which would become a total of 46 sets across an entire season. With a 20-car grid in mind, a total nearing 1000 tyres would not have to be created or shipped around the world, assisting Pirelli in its quest to reduce its carbon footprint.
Change will be used at one other race
The change in rules, which RacingNews365 understands was agreed last year under an 'Alternative Tyre Allocation' plan with input from Pirelli, the Commercial Rights Holder, the teams and F1's governing body, the FIA. It is to be used at one further race later in the 2023 season, once Pirelli has had the chance to evaluate the data gathered with potential introduction for additional races possible for 2024. Pirelli has also recently announced they will be bringing an updated specification of tyre for all races starting at the British Grand Prix - which was exclusively revealed by RacingNews365. Teams supply Pirelli with their expected performance data which is then used to create tyres capable of withstanding the specified loads. But the teams are out-performing their own expected data, as evidenced by the pole time in Miami being nearly two seconds faster than in 2022. So with high tyre load circuits such as Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, Zandvoort and Suzuka all coming up in the second half of the season, Pirelli sought approval from the FIA to bring the upgraded tyres, which will form the basis of the 2024 design. Teams will get to run them for the first time during practice for the Spanish Grand Prix in early June.
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