Tyre Wear Is The Real Issue At Sepang: Verstappen's Unusual Plan Highlights The Teams' Biggest Challenge

Friday practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was unusual in several ways. Lap times were about four and a half seconds slower than expected because of the poor track surface. Mercedes did not look as strong as many anticipated. Run plans were also different from the norm.

The difference was most obvious with Max Verstappen. Drivers normally do qualifying simulations in the middle of second practice and save the rest of the session for long runs. With the FIA putting the chance of rain at 90 per cent before FP2, many teams brought their long runs forward. Verstappen did not complete a qualifying simulation. Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache explained that tyre degradation is the most important factor this weekend at Sepang, and that the team had no data on the medium compound, so it prioritised the long run. By the time that was done, it was too late to try the soft.

Pirelli's chief engineer Simone Berra said this weekend is all about protecting the tyres in the race rather than balancing that against qualifying pace. Degradation on Friday was around two to three tenths per lap on both the medium and the soft, a level he said they had only seen at Barcelona this season. The poor surface lowers grip, more sliding raises surface temperature, and higher temperature reduces grip further, creating a vicious circle.

The track is hard on the rear tyres, but the fronts can also overheat in the high-speed corners. Protecting both axles at once is very difficult, so teams are expected to prioritise the rear, where performance losses are much bigger.

Berra said the situation is the opposite of Baku a week earlier, where degradation was low and starting on the front rows was crucial. At Sepang, high degradation makes overtaking possible and grid position less decisive. However, the focus on race pace meant some teams struggled to bring the tyres up to temperature for a flying lap, which leaves more question marks than usual ahead of qualifying.

Sunday also holds uncertainty. As a precaution, every team has saved two sets of hard tyres (C2), so nobody, including Pirelli, has data on that compound. Berra expects high degradation on the hard as well, because lower grip leads to more sliding. In some comparisons, the soft showed similar or even lower degradation than the medium. A two-stop race is the most likely scenario, with three stops possible, which suits Pirelli's goal of strategic variety.