Race strategy for the British Grand Prix

F1 Grand Prix, GP United Kingdom, Silverstone Circuit

There are big question marks revolving around the best strategy for today’s British Grand Prix with Formula One’s sole tyre manufacturer Pirelli envisaging very different strategies. F1Technical's senior writer Balázs Szabó analyses the possible race strategies for today's Silverstone race.

After using the softer compounds at the previous two rounds, teams have harder compounds available at Silverstone: the C1 has served as the P Zero White hard, C2 as the P Zero Yellow medium and C3 as the P Zero Red soft in Great Britain.

Pirelli’s choice has been dictated by the high energy loads that Silverstone puts through the tyres with some of the highest average cornering speeds of the year being experienced at Silverstone and drivers are subjected to lateral forces that can exceed 5g.

The track that has hosted 57 grands prix, is one of the most demanding of the whole season, especially for the front-left tyre that has to cope with heavy loadings throughout eight different corners.

Pirelli has mandated extremely high starting pressures with 26.5 psi for the fronts and 23.0 psi for the rears while the camber limits are -2.75° for the front and -1.50° for the rears.

As for the strategy, a two-stopper was generally the most popular strategy last year with the same approach expected for this weekend. In 2022, all three compounds were seen during the race: including on the starting grid.

Pirelli expects that the two-stop strategy will emerge as the fastest in today’s Silverstone race. Interestingly, the quickest strategy would see drivers start on the soft compound before switching for the medium between Laps 11 and 17. Following a run of approximately 25 laps on the yellow-banded C2 compound, this strategy option would see driver end the race on the softs.

However, a one-stop strategy is also a viable option despite the huge loads through the 5.8km Silverstone lap. This is because temperatures are significantly lower than on Friday, and with clouds expected to cover the sky all through Sunday, track temperatures will not rise significantly above the ambient temperatures.

This one-stop strategy would see drivers kick off their race on the medium compound before switching to the white-walled C1 compound for a mammoth stint. An alternative one-stop strategy would involve a lengthy initial stint on the hard compound before swapping them for a short stint on the soft compound.

Curiously, there is a two-stop strategy that would involve all three compounds. It would prompt drivers to mount on the mediums for their opening stint before switching to the hards and ending their 53-lap race on the softs.