Pirelli to offer teams with an extra set of tyres for practice

Pirelli will offer the teams an extra set of hard tyres for practice ahead of the United States Grand Prix, to allow the teams to complete extra running to quickly learn the brand-new layout. No driver or team has any knowledge on how the track will evolve, with only simulator work to help them prepare for the race weekend.

With the majority of the grid eager to take to the Circuit of the Americas as soon as practice one gets underway on Friday, Pirelli will also be in the dark as they too have little knowledge on the track from a tyre perspective. To counter this lack of knowledge, the sole tyre provider have opted for a slightly conservative tyre allocation of the P Zero Hard (silver) and Medium (white) tyres for the weekend.

“The Italian firm is bringing the P Zero Silver hard and P Zero White medium tyres: a reasonably conservative compound choice for a circuit where there are still a number of unknown factors when it comes to tyre performance.” Read a statement from Pirelli ahead of the race weekend, “The teams will be given an extra set of the hard tyre for Friday’s two free practice sessions in order to help them learn the all-new track.”

Seeing as the track is completely brand-new, grip levels are expected to be rather low during the early stages of the weekend. Along with what looks to be a tricky layout, the teams and drivers could well be in for a tough race weekend in Texas. With the Championship nearing its conclusion, the venue could well spice things up further in what has already been an unforgettable season.

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