Mercedes driver George Russell believes the new ultra-soft C6 tyre compound introduced by Pirelli for this weekend’s Imola Grand Prix will benefit McLaren.
Pirelli’s decision to bring its softest tyre allocation to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix softer compounds aims to spice up race strategies and break free from the one-stop trend that has been in force since the beginning of the season.
However, Russell reckons the softer allocation will play to the strengths of McLaren’s MCL39, particularly given its proven ability to manage tyre degradation in warmer and softer compound conditions.
“There’s a lot of tyre degradation,” Russell told F1's official channel after Friday’s practice sessions.
“Obviously we’ve got the softest compounds here, first time of the season, so that sort of spices things up a bit.
Read also: Norris downplays McLaren dominance after Friday Imola sweep“But we know McLaren generally seem to extend their advantage in those conditions. I had Oscar in my sights, then I didn’t. So that was a little bit… He sort of passed Max and went off [into the distance].
“So that’s just where we are at the moment as a team, we know our fight is with Max [Verstappen] and the Ferraris.”
New Tyre, Old Challenge
The new C6 compound was originally developed for street circuits such as Monaco, where Formula 1 heads next week.
Its introduction at a permanent circuit like Imola was intended to offer more strategic variety, but Russell suggested the unintended consequence may be to amplify the performance gap between McLaren and the rest.
“In the quali run it was pretty good, to be honest,” said Russell. “I remember when Seb [Vettel] did an interview like six years ago in Monaco about using the hyper-soft for the first time. That’s sort of what I’m thinking as well, I think you know what I’m talking about.”
Still, Russell welcomed the unpredictability the tyre change could bring.
“We know this tyre isn’t really suited to a track like this,” he added. “But it mixes things up a bit, so that’s what we want.”
Solid Start for Russell on Friday
Despite the concerns, Russell completed a competitive Friday at Imola, finishing both practice sessions in fourth place, and remained cautiously optimistic heading into Saturday.
“The field was really tight today in both sessions, with a few unexpected teams performing really well,” he said.
“We'll keep working hard tonight to identify areas that we can improve in. If we are able to do so, then we can hopefully reduce the gap to the very front and have an enjoyable Saturday.”
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