Max Verstappen urges Pirelli to drop the softest C6 tyre
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen, after securing pole position in Baku on a set of soft tyres, has called for a discussion with Pirelli engineers, advising them to retire the C6 tyre. According to Verstappen, this tyre no longer offers any advantage over the C5, which drivers are far more familiar with. Here’s why the FIA and the sole tyre supplier continue to promote softer compounds.
Pirelli maintains that the C6 is a couple of tenths faster than the C5, but the Dutchman, following his stunning pole lap at the Azerbaijan GP, made it clear that the supposed gain is negligible. “I think I should speak with Pirelli and tell them to leave that tyre at home because it makes the entire weekend very complicated,” Max Verstappen explained. “You don’t get reliable reference points on the medium tyre until qualifying. It makes no sense. The C6 didn’t work in Monaco, it didn’t work in Imola, and it didn’t work in Montreal either. It’s really better to just leave it alone.”
There is no criticism here, just a sincere recommendation from a driver who, at the end of a chaotic qualifying session, still claimed his 46th career pole position with a remarkable 1’41”117, set on a set of C6 tyres.
It’s worth analyzing why there is a different perspective on the C6 between Verstappen and Pirelli. The explanation is relatively simple: the red C6 in Baku, being the softest tyre available from Pirelli, theoretically provides a two-tenths advantage over the C5 in pure performance. However, in reality, this gap often disappears on track.
The primary reason is that drivers are far less familiar with the C6 compared to the C5, which has been extensively used throughout the season. More importantly, the super-soft C6 tends to move more on the wheel, reducing driver confidence. On a track like Baku, which has almost no run-off areas, any loss of confidence inevitably costs lap time. Drivers are then forced into a more conservative approach, made even more complicated in cases like Charles Leclerc, who was only able to use the medium tyre in qualifying.
The underlying idea from the FIA and Pirelli is to encourage two-stop race strategies. The softer the tyre, the more likely teams are to plan two stops. This is the theory, but in practice, teams often prefer to save the roughly 20 seconds of an extra pit stop, favoring a one-stop race. And as usual, this will likely be the case in Baku.
Verstappen has even suggested enforcing two stops by regulation. “I think it’s better to force two stops rather than bring a tyre that isn’t actually faster,” he told Motorsport.com. “It would be enough to require drivers to use all three compounds during a race.” His words are a stone thrown into the pond, sparking debate, while many still prefer leaving strategic freedom to the teams without regulatory mandates.
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