Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a 1m41.117s on soft tyres on Saturday, but the reigning Formula 1 world champion actually didn’t want to use that compound at all.
Verstappen preferred this weekend’s mediums, around which Red Bull had geared its entire weekend planning.
Before qualifying, Verstappen hadn’t done a single lap on mediums, saving all sets for qualifying and the race. However, because of the red-flag interruptions, Verstappen – like several other drivers – was ultimately forced to switch to softs in the final stages of Q3.
“At the end, I couldn’t even use the tyre I wanted, because we had already done too many laps on the mediums. The only option left was a new soft, but that tyre is slower,” Verstappen explained during the Dutch media session after qualifying.
Asked whether the C6 compound was worse over the entire lap or just in certain parts of the Baku City Circuit, the polesitter replied: “No, already from the start of the lap. It’s just an inferior tyre.”
Is the softest compound useable at any track?
Verstappen reckons the C6 compound shouldn’t return to F1 grand prix weekends at all.
“I think I should have a conversation with Pirelli at some point and tell them to just leave that tyre at home, because it makes the whole weekend very tricky,” he insisted. “You have no proper reference on the mediums until qualifying. It doesn’t make any sense.
“Look, if the tyre doesn’t work here… It didn’t work in Monaco, it didn’t work in Imola, and in Montreal it didn’t work either. Then you’re really better off leaving it at home.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Mark Thompson – Getty Images
The FIA’s and Pirelli’s underlying idea is to encourage more two-stop races. The softer the compounds, the bigger the chance of more pitstops and therefore more strategic variation – at least in theory.
In practice, however, the plan often fails as races still end up being straightforward one-stops. Pirelli has admitted that this will again be the case in Baku.
It’s why Verstappen is advocating for a different approach: “I think it’s better to just force a two-stop rather than bring a tyre that isn’t actually any faster.”
This could be done by mandating that drivers have to use all three compounds during a race. “Yeah, maybe,” responded Verstappen. “At least that’s better than bringing a tyre that they claim is faster, but that actually isn’t.”
Pirelli insists the C6 is quicker
Pirelli, however, maintains a different view and still insists that the C6 compound is, in theory, the better qualifying tyre.
“The medium and the soft are very close. We are estimating a two-tenths-of-a-second difference in pure performance,” explained Mario Isola, pointing to a theoretical advantage for the C6.
“But for some drivers it was easier to use the medium on Saturday, although the warm-up was tricky with the interruptions and waiting in the pitlane.
“The comments [from drivers] were that they feel more confidence on the medium rather than the soft. Probably the soft is a little bit more peaky. Some drivers were pushing towards the medium because they feel more confident on the medium, but today in qualifying the soft had a slightly bigger advantage because of the temperature.”
