Ferrari has opted for an aggressive tyre strategy at next weekend’s British Grand Prix Pirelli has revealed, following the publication of each team’s choices.
The Italian supplier altered their allocation for the high-speed turns of Silverstone this year, moving one step softer with the super-soft making its first appearance at the historic venue, along with the soft and medium compounds.
Despite the change, many teams have continued to favour the faster rubber with the Scuderia deciding to take nine sets of the super-softs, three sets of softs and just the one medium to use across the three days.
Contrast that to their main title rivals Mercedes, who have only chosen six sets of the red-striped rubber, with Lewis Hamilton choosing another six of the softs with one medium and Valtteri Bottas slightly different with five softs and two sets of the medium, one of only four drivers to do so.
As has become commonplace this year, McLaren has the most super-softs with 10 sets at their disposal, plus two sets of softs and one medium. The only other driver to choose this is Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, while team-mate Carlos Sainz has gone with the same numbers as Ferrari.
Both Red Bulls have also taken the more aggressive approach with eight sets of super-softs, four softs and the single medium, as have engine supplier Renault.
Pirelli has already indicated it expects a two-stop strategy to be the fastest route to the finish at Silverstone, something that has become increasingly rare this year as the tyres have proven much more durable.
As is the case every year, the fickle British weather will likely play a part at some point in the weekend, if it doesn’t, however, it could be a fascinating duel to see which team got their choices right.
Full choices for all teams can be seen below.
