Dutch Grand Prix under huge 'pressure increase' as key decision taken

Dutch Grand Prix

Dutch Grand Prix under huge 'pressure increase' as key decision taken

Pirelli will bring the C1, C2, and C3 compounds to the Netherlands

Luis Raya

Tuesday 22 August 2023 19:58 Updated: 20:03

Pirelli Motorsport Director, Mario Isola, believes there will be a variety of strategies in the Dutch Grand Prix, similar to last year.

Pirelli will bring the same tyre compounds to the Dutch Grand Prix as they did last year, with the C1 acting as the hard, the C2 as the medium, and the C3 as the soft.

However, the 2023 C1 compound is different from that of 2022. Pirelli developed a new tyre for this season, reclassifying the former C1 as the now-known C0, located between the C2 and the former C1.

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Because of this, and considering the range of strategies seen last year at this circuit – where many drivers opted for three stops while others chose two – Isola is confident that we might witness a good variety of options at Zandvoort.

"The second half of the season gets underway with a unique race. The Dutch Grand Prix takes place in Zandvoort: one of the most traditionally demanding tracks on the calendar that returned to the Formula 1 schedule three years ago on the wave of all the local support for Max Verstappen, who repaid his fans amply with a pair of victories from the last two races," commented Isola in Pirelli's preview.

"Last year, in a race that was characterised by two neutralisations, no fewer than 14 drivers - including the top three - used all three compounds, underlining the wide variety of options available to the strategists on the pit wall," he added.

Banking is an area of high stress for the tires

Pirelli aims to avoid drama at Zandvoort's banked turns

Zandvoort is a 4.2-kilometer-long track known for its twists and features two highly banked turns that concern several teams, particularly Pirelli.

"It's a very twisty track with two banked corners - Turn 3 and Turn 14 - that are steeper than Indianapolis, by way of comparison. On corners like this the stress on the tyres is greater than it would be through normal corners, as the vertical forces increase with the much higher speeds due to the banking," said Isola.

"Due to the banking and speed, there's an increase in vertical pressure, which is why we've chosen the same tyre compounds as in 2022, at least in terms of their names: C1, C2, and C3."

By opting for relatively harder tyre compounds, Pirelli is aiming to prevent incidents similar to what occurred during the 2005 United States Grand Prix.

The race is infamous for only featuring six cars running on Bridgestone tyres, due to the rest of the teams not being able to run the high banked corners over fears of tyre failures with their Michelin compounds.