Pirelli safety concerns result in schedule change and mandatory three-stop strategy in Qatar

The FIA have announced an extra 10-minute practice session will be held ahead of SQ1 on Saturday after Pirelli raised concerns about tyre safety after Friday’s running in Qatar.

Formula 1 returned to the Losail circuit on Friday with Max Verstappen clinching pole position in Friday night’s qualifying ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

It was, however, a session that was perhaps more noted for the track limit violations with both McLaren drivers and Sergio Perez on the list of drivers losing lap times.

An extra practice and mandatory three-stop strategy for the grand prix

This, coupled with concerns raised by Pirelli regarding higher than expected tyre wear, has led to the FIA announcing a few changes ahead of Saturday’s running.

Not only have the track limits at Turns 12 and 13 been revised, the teams have also been informed a decision will be made on Saturday night as to whether all the drivers will need to make three mandatory pitstops on Sunday, that’s instead of the usual one.

The FIA statement read: “Following the standard analysis of tyres used during Free Practice 1 yesterday, in which tyres that have been used for approximately 20 laps are examined by Pirelli to check various safety parameters, a separation in the sidewall between the topping compound and the carcass cords on many of tyres that were checked was discovered.

“It is the view of the FIA and Pirelli that a significant number of additional laps on these tyres could result in circumferential damage of the tyres with subsequent air loss, and tyres analysed with lower lap numbers showed a much-reduced extent of the issue.

“This issue has likely been caused by the high-frequency interference between the tyre sidewall and the 50mm ‘pyramid’ kerbs used extensively at this circuit, aggravated by the propensity to ride those kerbs.

“The following actions will be taken on safety grounds in response to this issue:

“Track limits at Turns 12-13 will be revised.

“There will be a 10-minute Practice Familiarisation Session, scheduled to start at 16:00 local time, following the revision of the track limits, to allow drivers to adjust to the changes. The Sprint Shootout will therefore start 20 minutes later than scheduled (16:20 local time).

“There will extensive tyre analysis following the Sprint (19 laps), to decide whether further action needs to be taken ahead of the Grand Prix.

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“In the event the problem is still evident, we will be issuing the following directive for Sunday’s Grand Prix, on safety grounds:

“The tyre life parameter must not exceed 20 for new tyres used in the race. This number would rise to 22 for any used tyres fitted in the race, to account for in-out laps in qualifying.

“All drivers will be obliged to perform at least three tyre-change pitstops during the race.

“Pirelli and the FIA will carry out extensive research and simulations in order to establish with complete confidence the reasons behind this issue, and to work on solutions to avoid it in the future.”

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