RW 6 – Tyre Selection

The Miami Grand Prix is the sixth round of the season and the first of three to be held in the United States of America.
The temporary street circuit flows around the Hard Rock Stadium, a multipurpose venue which is home to the Miami Dolphins.

The 5.412 kilometre long track, which the drivers will tackle 57 times on Sunday, which features 19 corners, three straights, three DRS zones and top speeds can exceed 340 km/h.
There are some elevation changes, the main one being between turns 13 and 16, with the track rising and falling as it goes over an exit ramp and under various overpasses.

The three sectors are each different in character, making for a lap which has a bit of everything. The first boasts a run of eight high speed corners, while the second sector has a long straight and a few low speed turns. The final run to the finish line consists of a straight and three flowing corners.

The three dry tyre compounds chosen by Pirelli are: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft). The track was resurfaced before last year’s race and is very smooth, therefore offering quite low grip.
This leads to a very significant track evolution and graining could put in appearance, particularly with the medium and soft tyres.

In terms of strategy, the Miami Grand Prixx is a classic one-stop race, with hard and medium compounds the outright favourites. Last year, Verstappen started from ninth on the grid on Hard tyres before switching ti Mediums, while the other two drivers who made it to the podium, Perez and Alonso, went the other way (medium then hard).

This is also the second sprint of the year, therefore with only one hour of free practice the teams and drivers have to find the best set-up as well as evaluating tyre behaviour.