Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix with a gap of just a few seconds to the two McLaren cars behind him, as the FIA’s mandate on tyre stints during the race hampered Red Bull
Andrea Stella concurs with Max Verstappen’s claim that the FIA’s rule regarding tyre stints during the race helped to close the gap between him and the McLaren vehicles in the Qatar Grand Prix.
The governing body declared that no set could be used for more than 18 total laps due to safety concerns regarding the tyres, which were being unexpectedly severely damaged by kerbs on the Losail track.
That effectively mandated that every car pit at least three times throughout the race. The majority of the time, however, drivers were able to drive at full throttle without having to worry about preserving tyre life.
Red Bull, whose tyre management has been a strength this season, was thus hurt by that.
Because the stint’s duration was initially set at its maximum duration, this was a respectably flat-out race. After that, the medium and hard tyres started acting rationally and were letting the drivers push. I assumed that this race would have involved controlling the tyres at some point on Friday after we observed how they were acting.
Instead, it was a race of pushing, at least for us, and this is encouraging. The upcoming races will determine whether this is due to our improved car, which allows us to be more gentle with the tyres and consequently have better degradation, or whether it is simply due to the circumstances surrounding this.