AR3-GP wrote: ↑27 Apr 2025, 20:56
The race in Japan was run at a high pace, but the fans, at least in the front positions, did not see a large number of overtaking manoeuvres.
"In the last two weekends, it has always been an easy one-stop strategy. I think that after the tarmac of the track, Pirelli needs to add softer tyres, because the hard ones last forever," said Russell, who was fifth, 17 seconds behind the winner Max Verstappen.
https://f1sport.auto.cz/clanek/russell- ... drzi-vecne
Did not age well... Drivers are shooting themselves in the foot with comments like this. No one other than Mclaren benefits from the softer tires.
If that helps McLaren, so be it. Others need to get their act together. The decision shouldn't be made because one team gets benefited out of it.
But from a racing standpoint, none of these tires really work. Soft tires forces drivers to drive slower. Only a hand full of laps will be push laps and then they simply drive around in circles waiting for pit stop. If they bolt soft tires on tracks which are difficult to overtake, then cars will go 5 to 6 seconds slower to manage the tires with one stop. With harder tires, it would still be procession on difficult to overtake tracks as drivers don't want to get into the wake of the car ahead that destroys the tires, so choose to sit behind with a margin. Pirelli has destroyed the racing in F1. They need better tracks (these cars have outgrown most of the tracks) and better tire supplier.