F1 News: Pirelli 'tire experiment' bad news for Red Bull

(GMM) Pirelli will run a F1 “tire experiment” in a move to prevent repeats of the processional Japanese GP. A move to softer compounds will be bad for the tire eating Red Bull RB21.

Suzuka was resurfaced ahead of the 2025 race, and coupled with the ever-quicker cars and hardest tire compounds, almost no overtaking whatsoever occurred.

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur predicts more of the same later this season.

“Yes, it will probably be a ‘qualifying championship’,” said the Frenchman.

Hard compounds will again be supplied this weekend in Bahrain, but the situation is very different to Suzuka – much higher temperatures and inherent tire wear.

Beyond that, according to Auto Motor und Sport, Pirelli intends to adjust some of its intended original selections and supply softer compounds at forthcoming races.

Journalist Michael Schmidt said it will begin with an “experiment” in both Miami and Imola – a shift to softer tires. The brand new, super-soft C6 compound will even be seen at Imola.

“If the experiment is successful, this could set a trend for the future,” he added, explaining that Pirelli will confirm the news officially on Wednesday. “We could even get softer tires for the rest of the season.”

It’s bad news for Red Bull, whose car is much more tire-hungry than the McLaren.

“There are a lot of slow corners in Bahrain,” said Schmidt, “and if you have a problem there, you really have a problem.”

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Temperature will be a very important variable when it comes to tire management at the fourth race of the year. As was the case in Suzuka, the teams will have a choice of the three hardest compounds in Pirelli’s 2025 range, namely the C1 as Hard, the C2 as Medium and the C3 as Soft. However, the Sakhir track characteristics, and indeed the temperatures, will require a different approach to that adopted last week in Japan.

All the teams will have a good baseline from which to start work, given that in the last week of February, the Sakhir circuit hosted the only pre-season test as per the 2025 sporting regulations. It means that everyone will have plenty of data to work with when it comes to setting up the cars and choosing the best strategies for qualifying and the race.