Formula 1: brand new in qualifying at Imola

Formula 1: brand new in qualifying at Imola

A single compound for Saturday’s qualifying session: this is the new format that Formula 1 will try at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola (May 19-21).

For the first time, there will be a single tire compound for each of the three sessions: “For Q1 only the hard compound tires (the Pirelli P Zero White hard, with a white band) will be allowed to be used, in Q2 the medium compound tires will be used (the Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium, with a yellow band), while the ten survivors who will compete for the pole position in Q3 will take to the track with the soft compound (the Pirelli P Zero Red soft, with a red band),” is the statement released by the Aci.

These are the words of Pirelli motorsport director Mario Isola: “The goal is to reduce the number of tire trains per race, another step toward making Formula 1 increasingly sustainable. The decision to debut this format at Imola was made by Formula 1 and the Federation: it is important to have representative races to understand if the new format works and Imola is a complete track.”

“This new format allows the drivers to arrive at race day with a good distribution of compounds in their allocation, whereas until now they often had 4 or 5 trains of soft tires that maybe were no longer used after qualifying. In addition, this system puts everyone on an equal footing and makes it possible, for example, to do more fast laps in Q1 with the hard ones, because – if one makes a mistake on the flying lap – one is not obliged to mount a new set. Then if the experiment, which will be repeated later in the season, proves successful, it could be adopted permanently.”