During the Jeddah weekend, Mercedes encountered tire management issues in the race for the first time. Thermal degradation affected George Russell in the second stint, preventing him from fighting for the podium due to the overheating of the front tires.
Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 range of compounds to Saudi Arabia, the same that will be used at the next round in Miami, making it crucial for Mercedes to understand the causes behind the problems experienced in Jeddah. Simone Resta, Mercedes’ deputy technical director, spoke about it.
“The conditions turned out to be a bit warmer compared to the previous edition, both in terms of ambient and track temperature,” Simone Resta explained. “The cars were very, very fast in the high-speed section where there are long straights that, especially in the first part, are not completely straight. Therefore, the tires never had time to cool down thermally, becoming more critical lap after lap.”
The race pace also had an impact, as it was immediately very fast due to Russell’s battle with Leclerc after the pit stop.
“We believe the problem was also triggered by the very fast pace,” Simone Resta confirmed. “George pushed too hard while fighting with Charles and also while defending from Norris’ comeback and, essentially, lost control of the front tires, paying the price in the final phase of the race. Unlike George, Kimi started the second stint with less pushing, managing to maintain a certain margin on the tires, which proved crucial in responding well to Lewis’ comeback.”
The analysis of what happened in Jeddah becomes especially valuable ahead of the next event in Miami, where not only the compounds but also the temperatures are expected to be very similar to those found in Saudi Arabia.
“There will be potential similarities between the conditions of Jeddah and Miami,” Simone Resta admitted. “The only difference will be slightly lower speeds, and it will also be a sprint weekend with little time available to prepare for qualifying and the Saturday race.”
As in all sprint weekends, arriving at the track with the best possible base setup will be very important. In last year’s Miami Grand Prix, the top four positions followed the same strategy used in Jeddah: starting on medium tires and then switching to hards.
“We are completing the analyses to reach conclusions on the work to be done to best prepare for the U.S. round,” Simone Resta concluded. “We want to return to being competitive as we were at the beginning of the season. It was an excellent start for the W16, the car has adapted well to every track so far, so we expect to solve the problems encountered in Jeddah and to fight for the podium as we did in the opening races.”
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