Pirelli brings its softest tyres to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Formula One's sole tyre supplier Pirelli has confirmed that it will bring the softest compounds of its five-tyre range for this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

With the Baku circuit being a street circuit, it is not surprising that the Milan-based tyre manufacturer has elected to bring the three softest dry compounds in the range, namely the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft.

The 6.003km track made its debut on the F1 schedule in 2016, and has pretty much unchanged since then. The challenging street circuit features a total of 20 corners of which some are right-angle turns - such as the first seven - while others through the old part of the city are very slow.

The layout ends with some high-speed corners that are taken flat out, with these turns forming a two-kilometre flat-out section with the start/finish straight.

This is a unique section of the track, and it saw Valtteri Bottas record fastest ever top speed by a Formula 1 car in an official event. The Finn driver clocked at 378 km/h in his Williams-Mercedes during qualifying for the inaugural event in 2016.

Although this extremely long, full-throttle section might lead one to believe that teams will use Monza-style rear wings, it is often not the case, with teams usually trying out a wide variety of rear wing designs on the opening practice day. The inner sections of the track is much slower, and while the cars usually rely on the tyre-generated grip, rear wing play a crucial role in generating temperatures in the tyres. This factor usually prompts teams to use slightly higher rear wing levels to achieve the necessary tyre temperatures.

Another important factor is the track width which varies a lot across the track. While the circuit is only seven metres at turn 8, it is wide enough to accommodate three cars abreast down the main straight.

As for the strategies, Baku is a typical one-stop race with the hardest tyre doing most of the work. In 2023, almost all drivers started the race on the Medium before switching to the Hard when the Safety Car came out on lap 11.

In its preview, Pirelli noted: "Although a glance at the circuit layout might lead one to believe that overtaking is relatively straightforward, that is not at all the case.

"Given the hierarchy of the teams this year, with the performance differences within the two main groups being minimal, the effectiveness of DRS could play an important role, as will a team’s ability to react to the unexpected on a track where the chances of the race being neutralised are very high."

As for the track evolution, with the circuit being open to city traffic, "track evolution will be an important factor to consider when evaluating performance, while the weather can also play its part. Usually, it is quite hot in September, with temperatures definitely higher than those experienced when the race was held in April."

"Furthermore, track temperature can vary significantly depending on which parts are in sunlight or in the shade from the surrounding buildings, especially in the section that runs through the old city. Last but not least, the wind can upset the car’s handling and, coming from different directions, can catch the drivers unawares, as it is channelled by the surrounding buildings of the town."