03/07/2019
NEWS STORY
Only Williams takes less sets of the softest (C3) rubber to Silverstone for British Grand Prix than Mercedes.
Next weekend sees Mercedes take just 8 sets of the softest (C3) rubber to Silverstone, for Lewis Hamilton's home Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Renault, which had a disastrous Austrian Grand Prix, appears to be throwing caution to the wind as it takes a full complement of the red-banded rubber.
The majority of teams take 9 sets of the C3, though McLaren, like Mercedes opts for just 8 sets.
While the hard, albeit the C2 was the go-to tyre in Austria, at Silverstone the majority of teams have opted to take just one set of the C1s next week, though Daniel Ricciardo, Robert Kubica and the Racing Point duo have opted for two.
As a result, the medium (C2) sees the greatest disparity, with the likes of George Russell taking 5 sets, the Mercedes pair 4 and Daniel Ricciardo just one.
Last year's race was won by Sebastian Vettel, who stopped twice. Starting the race on softs, he subsequently changed to mediums before another final stint on softs.
Indeed, five of the top ten finishers were on exactly the same strategy, while second-placed Lewis Hamilton ran a one-stop strategy, as did his teammate, both starting on softs and then switching to mediums.
The Renault pair were the only drivers to use the hards, both taking them on at their first pit stop.
While Nico Hulkenberg went on to finish sixth, teammate Carlos Sainz, who made a second stop for softs, subsequently collided with Romain Grosjean necessitating the deployment of the safety car.