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Norris and Tsunoda first F1 drivers to take sprint qualifying gamble

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As revealed by Autosport, a loophole has emerged in the new sprint format rules regarding the use of tires in the shootout.

Drivers must use a new set of medium tires in SQ1, another new set of medium tires in SQ2, and a new set of soft tires in SQ3.

The intention is that all teams must save the three new sets of equipment for use on Saturday.

However, the published rules leave a loophole that means teams don’t actually have to save on tires if they prefer to use them earlier in the weekend.

A related article reads: “During the SQ3 sprint, no more than one set of dry tyres, and only a new set of soft tyres, can be used.”

The presence of the word “could” leaves open the door for teams that might not have thought to let SQ3 run out of that set of soft tires strategically earlier in the weekend, which is exactly what Norris and Kakuda did on Friday.

The McLaren driver improved in qualifying, finishing seventh in Q1 and sixth in Q2. The team then used his last set of new pads in the final race of the third period, playing the “joker” role and helping him to seventh in qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

That is to say, according to the rules, if he runs to SQ3 on Saturday after the mandatory middle tire run of the first two quarters, he cannot participate. Instead, he’ll have to sit in the garage and settle for 10th.

However, the exhaustion-soft strategy clearly helped him in Friday’s third quarter, and he could reap the rewards in Sunday’s main event.

“This was a conscious strategic decision to maximize results in Grand Prix qualifying,” a team spokesman told Autosport.

“There are more points to score on Sunday, so it’s the more important game.”

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04

Photography: Mark Sutton/ motorsport pictures

Tsunoda was in exactly the same situation as Norris, as he also ran all the soft tyres, but his route was slightly different.

Both AlphaTauri drivers ran an extra set of soft tires in FP1. The general idea was to be better prepared for qualifying later on, although Tsunoda lost his first set when he brushed a wall and blew a tire.

The strategy didn’t work for Nyck De Vries, who crashed on the first lap of Q1.

However, Kakuta used his extra preparation to make good progress, finishing 10th in the first session, 7th in Q2 and then 8th in Q3, which will be his grand prix on Sunday starting position.

In the process, he used up all the softs, which meant he ran out of fresh tires for Saturday’s qualifying sprint.

“While we’ve brought in several new aero components, based on recent racing, we’re not expected to be competitive in Q3 material,” said Jonathan Eddolls, AlphaTauri’s chief race engineer.

“So we put a lot of effort into our qualifying preparations in FP1 to give us the best chance to start the race as high as possible on Sunday with more points. Both drivers are in FP1 Two sets of soft and medium tires were used.

“The headwinds of our FP1 qualifying preparations meant we didn’t have new tires for Q3, but Yuki put in an excellent lap on the old tires in Sunday’s race to finish eighth.”

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04

Photography: Zak Mauger / motorsport pictures

Tsunoda stresses that tires are a key factor in his performance.

“It was really tricky, a tricky track and especially the tires were tricky,” he said. “Most drivers struggled with the brakes, especially the first section where the front tire wasn’t too hot, it wasn’t ready.

“We warm up the tires as much as we can, but we try a lot. So the tires are really key, warming up.”

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Alonso vs Verstappen; who beats whom? 'Man, that is hard'

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While Fernando Alonso is not yet in contention for a win in 2023, the Spaniard’s performance in a relatively strong Aston Martin looks like a comeback. Even with a slightly better car, the nearly 42-year-old F1 driver could take on Max Verstappen, a fight everyone including Pedro de la Rosa would love to see.

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Mercedes and Ferrari set for crucial 2024 no-blanket Pirelli F1 tyre test

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The race in Barcelona is significant because Pirelli raced on its 2024 tires just once before the FIA ​​made a final decision on whether to go ahead with the original race plan – after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where Red Bull took part. There is no blanket for the game next season.

Current rules say the blankets will remain in place until 2024, and a decision on whether to change and abandon them must be made by July 31.

Several drivers who tested early prototypes of the blanketless tires in winter were not happy with them, with Lewis Hamilton calling them “dangerous”.

However, testing after the Bahrain Grand Prix showed more promise and Pirelli believes next week’s race in Spain will represent a further step.

An early design of the future structure will be used for this year’s British Grand Prix and was tested by drivers in Barcelona on Friday.

The FIA ​​has approved the carpetless all-wet tyres, which were first used by Sergio Perez and the Haas drivers during the Monaco Grand Prix.

“It’s very important for us,” Pirelli’s chief engineer Simone Berra told Autosport of the Barcelona race.

“We’re testing most of the compounds, we have a lot of variants. We’re trying to test different structures to move forward because the goal is to have no blankets in 2024.

“So we need a structure that obviously needs to have good integrity, a high level of integrity, but needs to work really well at the start of the run when the pressure is lower and help the compound get to temperature and become in the operating range .

“So we’re continuing to develop new structures. Then we’ll start looking at new families of compounds that don’t use blankets. So I think that’s going to be a good test for us.

“The Barcelona we know is representative because we have high-speed sections. It’s a normal track, a more complete track compared to Bahrain when we tested at the beginning of the season.”

While not entirely representative, Bella believes the Bahrain test has helped point Pirelli in the right direction, with the tires due to run in Spain next week meeting the requirements.

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Photography: Andy Horn / motorsport pictures

“I think we’ve gotten some interesting stuff,” he said. “Obviously Bahrain is not really important for all circuits because you have a high temperature on the track and you have high traction demands and braking demands.

“So we need to test the new structure on different tracks where you have high lateral loads, higher severity and maybe cooler temperatures compared to Bahrain, just to see where we’re going in a good direction effort.

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“When we were testing in Bahrain, we had some good options out of the box. But there were still some things that needed to be fine-tuned, finalized, and this was a new proposal.

“So that’s what the test is for. We’re trying to develop a structure that helps generate the temperature on the tyre, so that the compound can work. That means the structure is less stiff and can increase stiffness as pressure increases .”

Bella believes Pirelli will finally get the FIA’s approval to ditch blankets in 2024.

The test will also see the Mercedes track debut of the team’s reserve driver Mick Schumacher, who will tackle the W14 on Wednesday after George Russell entered the race the previous day.

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Fernando vs Verstappen; who beats whom? 'Man, that is hard'

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While Fernando Alonso is not yet in contention for a win in 2023, the Spaniard’s performance in a relatively strong Aston Martin looks like a comeback. With a slightly better car, the nearly 42-year-old F1 driver could challenge Max Verstappen. A fight that everyone, including Pedro de la Rosa, wanted to see.

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