STRATEGY GUIDE: teams are facing big strategy dilemma forthe Dutch Grand Prix
F1 teams will face a big dilemma when making the final call on their strategies. F1Technical’s lead journalist delivers his strategy guide from the dry, sunny, but very windy Zandvoort track.
Orange was the dominant colour come the end of qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix, but not in the shade usually associated with local hero Max Verstappen.
In fact, papaya came out on top courtesy of Lando Norris and his McLaren, who brilliantly demoted the Dutchman’s last attempt in an exciting finale to Q3. The McLaren proved its superiority – at least over a flying lap - by just 356 thousandths of a second. The on-form team also had Oscar Piastri in third place, albeit almost half a second down on his team-mate.
This was Norris’ fourth pole position, his third this season and McLaren now has 159 number one starts to its name. It was the first time since 1984 that McLaren secured what was its only other pole for the Dutch Grand Prix, forty years ago courtesy of Alain Prost.
Reflecting on yesterday’s qualifying session, Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola stated that he was surprised by the big gap with which Norris secured his pole position.
“It all looked very closely matched during two free practice sessions and the first two parts of qualifying, but then in Q3, Norris made a step forward which put pole out of reach of his competitors, with a fantastic lap: 356 thousandths is a very significant advantage on a track that is only a little over four kilometres in length!
“Clearly, because of the bad weather and various interruptions, preparation for teams and drivers was far from optimal for the grid-deciding session. In those 60 minutes, it was clear the Soft offered peak performance on the first flying lap and so, the use of a new set saw a significant improvement in lap time, probably even superior to that offered by the evolution of the track conditions.
As for the race strategy, Pirelli is unsure what the best approach will be today. The Milan-based manufacturer estimates that both the one- and two-stop strategy might turn out as a viable way to complete the race distance of 72 laps.
Interestingly, Pirelli thinks that the soft tyres should be chosen as the starting compound despite the short run to the first corner, names Tarzanbocht. Friday’s long-stint simulation showed quite a high tyre degradation on the red-walled compound, so starting on the C3 compound would prompt drivers to manage their tyres on the openings laps.
Should someone opt for a one-stop strategy, the second stint would involve the hard compound, with the tyre change expected to take place between Laps 24 and 30.
There are at least two viable two-stop strategies on the table. One of them would see drivers change to the medium tyres between Lap 20 and 26 before completing the second change between Lap 47 and 53, this time back to the soft tyres.
Another alternative would involve the soft compound for the first and third stint, but the second stint would see drivers drive on the hards for a longer middle stint than the other two-stop variation.
“As for possible scenarios for tomorrow’s race, the relatively little data gathered over three hours of free practice still confirmed the results of simulations prior to the event.
“On paper, the one-stop is quickest, with the C3/C1 combination preferable to a C2/C3: in the first case the pit stop window can be between laps 24 and 30, while for the second it should open four laps later and close on lap 34.”
