Max Verstappen Archives

F1 2021 season’s controversial end decided on Pirelli soft tyres

Max Verstappen and Red Bull used a fresher but used Pirelli P Zero soft tyre to overcome Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes on a 43-lap old hard tyre in a single lap showdown to win the Formula One Drivers Championship. The controversy about how F1 contrived to supply this conclusion to the 2021 season at Yas Marina continues to rage. The intense coverage beyond the usual race weekend press generated by the controversy builds upon a season in which F1 has considerably refreshed its profile; it has gained improved global interest via the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive, a roster of drivers invigorated by some new faces, and a schedule expanding outside its traditional European base. Exclusive tyre supplier Pirelli’s head of F1 and car racing Mario Isola said: “It’s been an absolutely incredible season with some of the most intense competition we can remember: a fitting way to close the chapter on 13-inch tyres before starting a new one with 18 inches.”

13th December 2021/by Andrew

Verstappen bests Hamilton in US strategic tyre duel

International News, Motorsport

Pirelli

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen opened up a 12-point gap at the top of the Formula 1 Drivers Championship after an intensely tactical two-stop race against Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas. Verstappen switched from the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tyre to the P Zero White hard tyre on lap 11, with a successful ‘undercut’ to gain the lead from his rival, who stopped three laps later. Mario Isola – head of F1 and car racing at Pirelli said that the two drivers had used “exactly the same” pre-race tyre allocation in different ways to produce a “thrilling finale between two drivers absolutely on top of their game.”

25th October 2021/by Andrew

Verstappen not happy with Pirelli’s Azerbaijan GP tyre failure explanation

Motorsport

Pirelli says the two tyres that failed during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 6 June did so because of a “circumferential break on the inner sidewall” that was “related to the running conditions of the tyre, in spite of the prescribed starting parameters (minimum pressure and maximum blanket temperature) having been followed.” But Max Verstappen isn’t satisfied.

18th June 2021/by Stephen

Tyre management ‘integral’ in Verstappen’s Silverstone triumph

Motorsport

Pirelli

Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli said that tyre strategy had been “integral” to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s victory in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. Starting from fourth on the grid, Verstappen was the only one of the top 10 to start on the hard tyre. He used their comparative durability to run a longer first stint, which allowed him to move into the lead and then defend his advantage. The P Zero White hard (C2) tyre was softer than the hardest designated tyre at the previous weekend’s British Grand Prix, won by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. While the Mercedes team was tougher on the tyres than most, with blistering a known issue, Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were able to claim the second and third steps on the podium, with Hamilton using the P Zero White to set the fastest lap in the race to claim an extra championship point.

10th August 2020/by Andrew

Pirelli congratulates Hamilton on 4th F1 title, Verstappen on ultra/supersoft win in Mexico

Motorsport

Yesterday’s Mexican Grand Prix delivered Lewis Hamilton his fourth drivers’ title, not to mention a moment of bated breath in the very first round as Hamilton’s Mercedes made contact with the Ferrari of closest title contender Sebastian Vettel. The collision, comments Pirelli, added an extra tactical element to the race, as both protagonists were forced to deviate from the expected one-stop strategy.

30th October 2017/by Tyrepress Editors

Alternative tyre strategy helps Vettel to 4th at Malaysian grand prix

Motorsport

While all the frontrunners at the final Malaysian Grand Prix used a similar single-stop tyre strategy, changing from Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft to Yellow soft tyres, Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari reversed the order to support his bid for points from the back of the grid. The German chose to start the race on the soft tyres to try and gain track position, switching to the faster supersoft tyres on the same lap that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pitted from the lead to change from supersoft to soft. Verstappen won the race from the second row of the grid.

2nd October 2017/by Tyrepress Editors

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