McLaren’s tire strategy raises concerns about the risk of three pit stops | 2025 F1 Bahrain GP. McLaren’s Tire Whisper: Will Sunday’s Race Require Three Stops?.

Extreme conditions highlight the best design. The Bahrain circuit is the toughest on tires of the entire calendar, due to its layout (with five points of heavy acceleration), the asphalt, and this year’s extremely high temperatures.

In this scenario, the challenge is more than ever to avoid rear tire overheating, a problem that drivers will face both in qualifying and the race. In his best lap of the FP2 session, Max Verstappen maintained exactly the same pace as the day’s leader, Oscar Piastri, up until turn 9, but then his Red Bull’s tires went out the window due to overheating. The result: a gap of almost eight-tenths at the finish line.

Rivals were surprised by McLaren’s performance. The MCL39 whispers to the tires, and the more difficult the conditions become, the larger the gap with rivals grows. Unlike the competition, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris can rely on perfect tire performance throughout the lap, confirming they have an effective solution against overheating. Not much changes in race simulations, where the margin mainly shows up in the second part of the stint, as seen in the long runs completed yesterday. Several drivers went out for a race simulation with soft tires, a choice that surprised given the degradation. There’s a reason, and it’s tied to tire wear.

According to some teams (including Red Bull), it’s possible that Sunday’s race may require three stops or make two sets of hard tires essential in the case of two pit stops. In this regard, both Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda have saved two sets of ‘white’ tires, the only ones to do so among the top teams. Everything will depend on the track evolution and how much this variable impacts the rear tire wear, as a two-stop race will require 20-lap stints. This is not an easy distance to cover if the race dynamics force drivers to not fully ease off the pace, as seen yesterday in the long runs.

“If the asphalt temperature on Sunday stays above 35 degrees, there’s a real possibility we’ll need a third stop,” an engineer confided last night. “If you look at the times after about twelve laps, the pace drops by more than two seconds, quickly reaching three.”

Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari kept one set of hard tires and two medium sets; it will be interesting to see if any of the race sets will be used in FP3, or if only soft tires will be used. If they focus only on the ‘reds,’ it will confirm concerns for the 57 laps scheduled for tomorrow.