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Oscar Piastri

Piastri in FIA, Pirelli demand over Qatar tyre drama

There is a chance that three-stop strategies could be mandated at the Lusail International Circuit.

Piastri Qatar
Article
To news overview © XPBimages

Qatar Grand Prix Sprint winner Oscar Piastri has urged the FIA and Pirelli to "be sensible" ahead of Sunday's race as concerns over tyre safety overhang.

Changes were made to the track limits at the Lusail International Circuit ahead of Saturday's running after separation was found between the carcass cords and the topping compound of the Pirelli construction's sidewalls.

The FIA announced that there would be mandatory three-stop strategies enforced upon drivers and teams should there be no improvement found after an analysis of tyres used in the 19-lap Sprint, in which Piastri held off an advancing Max Verstappen for victory.

But data will be skewed by three Safety Car interventions that would have placed less strain on the tyres than the 20-lap used tyres under the microscope on Friday.

High-speed crash 'not enticing;

On the concerns heading into the Qatar GP, Piastri told media including RacingNews365.com: "I think in the Sprint, we probably didn't get the best read on what the tyres are going to do, with so many laps behind the Safety Car.

"So, I think Pirelli, the FIA need to be sensible.

"Obviously, if a tyre lets go through the high-speed section… yes, there's quite a lot of run-off, but it's not a very enticing prospect.

"So we'll see what they do - obviously, it's not ideal for anybody to be in this position but I think it's been at least encouraging that they've been willing to try things to keep us safe.

"It’d be preferable if that didn't happen in the first place but there's not much we can do about that now."

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F1 2023 Qatar Grand Prix RN365 News dossier

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