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What tyres will the teams and drivers have for the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix?
Pirelli have announced which tyres they will be bringing to the drivers and their teams as they prepare to go racing at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
F1’s official tyre supplier has revealed that they will be bringing the three softest compounds in their range to Mexico – as last seen in Singapore in September – with the drivers able to call upon the C3 (hard tyre), C4 (medium tyre), and the C5 (soft tyre).
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After two consecutive weekends under the Sprint format – in Qatar and Austin – the teams will now revert to normal in Mexico, which means that they will be given 13 sets of tyres instead of 11.
They will get two sets of the hard tyre (marked white), three sets of the medium tyre (marked yellow), and eight sets of the soft tyre (marked red), as well as the green intermediate tyre and the blue full wets, if required.
“The second stop on Formula 1’s American tour takes place in Mexico City on the circuit named after Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez: the brothers who were local motorsport heroes throughout the 1960s and 1970s,” said Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Mario Isola.
“The track, located on the west side of the city, is just over four kilometres long with 17 corners and it sits at more than 2000 metres of altitude. This has an important effect on car performance, with the rarefied air reducing drag and also downforce.
“As a result, the aero settings on the cars are similar to those used on high-downforce circuits – only with a much-reduced effect on the tyres. The grip from the asphalt is also much less than average, as surface roughness is among the lowest of the entire calendar.
“This year we have decided to bring the three softest compounds to Mexico – C3, C4 and C5 – after careful reflection based on last year’s information, as well as the simulations that the teams have as always supplied to us.
“This should lead to a wider variety of strategy choices throughout the race, opening the door to a two-stop strategy as well. Last year, when the chosen compounds were C2, C3, and C4, nearly all the drivers stopped only once, mainly using soft and medium.
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“Mexico also gives us the chance to try out a new variant of the C4 with all the teams. During the two hours of free practice on Friday each driver will have two sets of these new prototypes to use as they wish. Once we have analysed all the data, we will then decide whether or not to homologate this version for use in 2024.”
For more information about Pirelli’s F1 tyres, visit pirelli.com.
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