Mario Isola believes that Max Verstappen's Mexican Grand Prix triumph is evidence of a development path that makes better use of the Pirelli tyres. Verstappen defied any expectation of a strategic race against Mercedes by securing a comprehensive victory at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. In a one-stop race, the Dutchman ran the Soft-compound tyres before switching onto the Medium tyres, an aggressive strategy which was echoed by teammate Sergio Perez. The two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton elected for a Medium-to-Hard tyre strategy, with the anticipation of the Red Bull's experiencing too much tyre degradation. This turned out to not be the case and Verstappen was unchallenged in his quest to secure his fourteenth win of the season.
Isola: Red Bull probably focussed on tyre wear
It has previously been noted that their usual 2022 competitors Ferrari tend to suffer from excessive tyre wear. However, the difference between the two teams was thought to be solely a negative trait of the Italian team, rather than positive attribute of Red Bull's RB18. When asked about Red Bull's aggressive strategy at the Mexican GP, Pirelli Motorsport Director Isola believed tyre wear had been a high focus of Red Bull's car development path. "I think, to be honest, in the last part of the season we saw Red Bull using the tyres very well," Isola told Motorsport Total . "But I don't know what they did on the car, probably some upgrades they produced during the season. "At the beginning of the season Red Bull were not so good in using the tyres and now we see that they have made a big step compared to the first part of the season. So they probably focused on that."
Most read
