F1 teams load up on Ultrasoft tyres for Austrian Grand Prix
Pirelli's ultrasoft tyre dominates the 10 Formula 1 teams' choices for the Austrian Grand Prix, with Ferrari slightly more aggressive than Mercedes and Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will take nine sets of the softest-compound Pirellis to the Red Bull Ring, one more than the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers.
Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas has the most supersofts of the leaders with four sets, compared to three for team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Raikkonen and Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
Vettel only has two sets of the supersofts which leaves him with two sets of softs, one more than Bottas and Raikkonen and the same as Hamilton and the two Red Bulls.
While Ferrari's ultrasoft allocation is marginally greater than its immediate rivals, it is not the most aggressive choice.
Williams and Renault have loaded up on the purple-walled Pirellis, taking 10 sets for each driver.
That has left Lance Stroll (Williams) and Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault) with one set of supersofts and two sets of softs respectively, with their team-mates Sergey Sirotkin and Nico Hulkenberg taking the opposite approach.
The only other driver taking just one set of supersofts is Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc, who has three sets of softs and nine ultrasofts.
Romain Grosjean has the biggest supersoft allocation with five sets, leaving him with one set of softs and just seven sets of ultrasofts - the joint-lowest number alongside Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen.
Austrian Grand Prix tyre choices
| Driver | Soft | Supersoft | Ultrasoft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Max Verstappen | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Sergio Perez | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Esteban Ocon | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Lance Stroll | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Sergey Sirotkin | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Carlos Sainz Jr | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Pierre Gasly | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Brendon Hartley | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Romain Grosjean | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Fernando Alonso | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Marcus Ericsson | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Charles Leclerc | 3 | 1 | 9 |
Share Or Save This Story
The driver who can wreck F1's "super exciting" 2020 silly season
Red Bull's Verstappen now has basis for first F1 title challenge
Ferrari: Mick Schumacher a good candidate for seat in Formula 1
The big British GP chance F1 almost missed
What Alonso needs from Aston Martin and F1 as career decision looms
Why nationality should be 'no factor' as Haas considers Fornaroli and Camara for F1 2027
F1 drivers raise concerns over 'self-learning' power units – what's going on?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments