10/07/2018
NEWS STORY
With 8 points between them, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton head to Germany next weekend having made exactly the same choice in terms of tyre sets.
Both are taking 7 sets of the ultrasofts, 4 of softs and 2 of mediums, teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas however both opt for 5 sets of softs and 1 medium.
Silverstone demonstrated once and for all that Ferrari now virtually has the equal of Mercedes, and with temperatures in Germany expected to be similar, if not warmer, than they were on Sunday, tyres are once again likely to be the key factor.
With no Grand Prix in 2017, and the entire range now a step softer, in some ways Pirelli has been working in the dark in terms of the compounds made available for the 11th round of the 2018 season. To further confuse the issue, Germany marks the second race this season where the Italian manufacturer has opted to skip a compound.
The Renault pair will take the full complement of ten sets of ultrasofts, while Max Verstappen, like the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers, takes just seven.
Like Bottas and Raikkonen, Kevin Magnussen takes 5 sets of softs, while Carlos Sainz takes just 1.
Though most opt for one or two sets of mediums, Charles Leclerc, who suffered his first DNF of the season on Sunday when he was unsafely released with a loose wheel, takes three sets.
The 2016 race was won by Hamilton, on a three-stop strategy that saw him start on supersofts, before further stints on softs, supersofts and finally softs again.
Nine of the first ten drivers home were on three-stop strategies.