TYRE DEBRIEF: C1 compound emerges as potentially best race tyre

After a rain-interrupted, windy opening day at the Dutch Grand Prix, Pirelli thinks that the hardest compound might emerge as the best race tyre on Sunday.

F1’s official tyre suppliers have chosen the C1, C2 and C3 compounds for the tight, twisty 4.259-kilometre venue, which is made up of 10 right-hand corners and four left-hand turns.

The circuit measures 4.259 kilometres. Zandvoort is located in an area of sand dunes near the beach, with the wind sometimes blowing sand onto the track and affecting grip; an issue normally associated with places like Bahrain.

Zandvoort generates some big g forces all around the 4.2-kilometre track: braking into Turns 1 and 11 is a deceleration of about 5g, while Turn 7 also provides lateral forces of around 5g.

On the first day of running at Zandvoort, very changeable weather conditions played their part, to the extent that all five types of tyre brought to Zandvoort were called into play.

The first session began in the rain with the track battered by very strong winds, with gusts exceeding 85 km/h. 17 of the drivers even tested track conditions with the extreme wets, before joining the only three abstentions – Verstappen, Hamilton and Ocon – on the intermediates.

After half an hour, conditions improved enough for a switch to slicks, with nine of the ten teams opting for the Soft, while both Ferrari drivers went for the Medium.

The Dutch summer displayed its better side in the second session with sun putting in an appearance as the wind diminished in strength. The teams were thus able to resume the usual Friday programme, focussed on comparing the three dry tyre compounds.

The vast majority worked with the Medium and Soft, while Gasly (Alpine), Albon (Williams), Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) and Magnussen (Haas) used the Soft and Hard.

Pirelli's motorsport director Mario Isola has sounded a positive note when assessing the various compounds at Zandvoort. The Italian stressed that the on-track data confirmed Pirelli's pre-event expectations.

“This first day was partially affected by the changing weather conditions, so there was not much useful data to be gathered from the first session, but much more was acquired in the second one.

"At first glance, we can say that all three dry compounds seem to be viable for use in the race. With the track conditions and temperatures experienced in FP2, the C1 proved to be very competitive and consistent, with the C2 not far off in terms of performance, as predicted in simulations prior to the weekend, with a difference of around eight to nine tenths between the Soft and the Medium and four tenths between the Medium and the Hard.

Despite showing higher degradation, Isola stated that the red-walled tyres might also be viable on Sunday.

"The C3 demonstrated higher degradation, but not to the point of ruling it out as an option for Sunday’s race, also because there was no sign of graining.

“One interesting point will be seeing how the grip from the track surface evolves over the next two days. It is meant to rain tomorrow morning which, combined with the wind, should reset the conditions a bit.

"But the forecast is better for qualifying and for the race, which should be run in similar conditions to those in FP2, although track temperature could be a few degrees higher," concluded Isola.