In early March, Formula 1’s only tire manufacturer, Pirelli , revealed the compound selection for the first three grands prix of the 2022 season; the Bahrain GP, the Saudi Arabian GP and the Australian GP.
Since then, many have realized that for the first time since 2019, the year in which work began with five different types of dry tires (C1-C2-C3-C4-C5, from hardest to softest) , the choice for the race in Melbourne was weirder than usual.
Until now there were only three options; the most conservative choice of all (C1-C2-C3), the most neutral choice (C2-C3-C4) and the softest (C3-C4-C5). However, at Albert Park, teams and drivers will have C2, C3 and finally C5 at their disposal, skipping one of the compounds in between, C4.
Faced with such an unusual selection, the head of Pirelli in Formula 1, Mario Isola , explained the reasons that had led to this choice for the Australian Grand Prix.
“At the start of the grand prix the grip level is likely to be quite low,” the Italian said in Melbourne pre-race. “But as we get closer to Sunday, conditions will change and get better.”
“At the same time, it’s important to remember that we are going to Melbourne a few weeks later than we have usually done in previous years. Autumn has already arrived in the southern hemisphere, so the weather can change quickly.”
“Studying the behavior of our tyres, we came to the conclusion that the differences between the C3 and the C4 are really very small. So we have chosen the Albert Park circuit as the ideal place to do this experiment.”
“Since the tarmac is also new, we consider running the softer compound to be an excellent choice for this weekend. This combination will force the teams to work even harder over the course of Free Practice.”
It must be remembered that the Albert Park Circuit has been modified in several areas and lap times are expected to improve by up to five seconds due to a faster layout than for the first time in the history of Formula 1, it will have four areas DRS activation.
