Opinion among drivers is split when it comes to the impact changes to the tyre allocation, and their use during qualifying, will have at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
For this event, drivers are compelled to use the hard compound tyres in Qualifying 1, medium rubber in Qualifying 2, and the softs in Qualifying 3.
It comes with a reduction in the number of sets of tyres available to drivers for the weekend, down to 11 from 13.
“Having to do a low fuel, quick lap on hards, that’s something you don’t do very often,” Haas driver Kevin Magnussen said.
“But it’s the same for everything.
“When they make these changes, it’s always interesting, it’s always fun, something new to get your head around. I enjoy when they make these changes.
“Like anything, any change, it helps the big teams because, especially with the tyres, they have more grip,” he added.
“They can easily switch on the tyres, or if it is difficult to switch on the first lap, then the fast cars will have a huge advantage.
“But it is what it is and it’s nonetheless a new challenge and something like a bit of a curveball at least in this race.”
That curveball has not met with universal favour.
Esteban Ocon believes the change is a step too far, with the change likely to see reduced running in practice.
“I think it’s not going in the right direction,” he opined.
“Because, you know, if P2 is wet for example… Okay, I believe that we are gonna see 10 laps in the day.”
While Ocon raised concerns over the impact to Friday’s track action, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was more pragmatic and suggested the actual sporting impact will be minimal.
“I think it will not change too many things,” he suggested.
“We have to use a certain type of tyre in each of the qualifyings, but it’s the same for everybody.
“So it should not be a thing that should change too many things, and we save a couple of sets, I think, for Pirelli; instead of 13, we have 11 per driver, so two sets for 20 drivers, obviously, there are a lot of sets that maybe Formula 1 can save.
“So there is a reason behind that, we should support and least try and let’s see after this weekend if there are any tweaks that maybe are needed for the future.”
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