If it stays dry, harder Bridgestones best

Although much of the weekend in Brazil has been dominated by rain so far, a chance still remains that the race in São Paulo could be run in dry conditions when the red lights go out on Sunday afternoon. Bridgestone's Hirohide Hamashima explains which tire to be on for the best grip at Interlagos.

In Formula One, Slick tires (non-grooved tires for use in dry conditions) are divided into four compounds (Hard, Medium, Soft and Super Soft), two of which must be used during a fully dry Grand Prix. This weekend in Brazil, the Medium and Super Soft types are available.
The softer of the two available compounds (known as 'Option') is indicated with a green-painted sidewall. The harder of the types is often described as 'Prime'.

"If it's dry then we think the Medium compound will be the preferred race tire, as the Super Soft suffers from worse degradation," Hamashima explained. "However, if temperatures are very cold and there is the threat of rain, the Super Soft – with its lower temperature working range and extra grip – could show benefits."

On the other hand, if rain does arrive again – a definite possibility – drivers have 7 sets of Wet tires and 4 sets of Intermediates available to them over the course of a race weekend. "If it is wet, tire choices become very difficult and we saw a very good illustration of this last time we visited Interlagos," Hamashima added.