Why compulsory pitstops F1 will not improve racing

Beware of those who declare a simple solution for complex problems.

In the 2025 season, three Grands were won from the position of the pole after the prix, and a procession in Japan was held in terms of strategic deadlock, an idea has taken root in Formula 1 Padock that the condition of this condition can be easily resolved by applying a minimum number of pitstops – this figure, of course, for more than one.

Is an example. In 2023 in Qatar GP, Fia and Pirelli have determined the length of the maximum tenureIt is creating a minimum three-stop race, and the World Motor Sport Council in February this year Minimum two stops confirmed in MonacoGet rain or glow.

But these were answers to specific circumstances. In Qatar, the tires were being damaged by running on the karbas, and specifying a stent length of 18 laps was a stick-plaster solution for safety reasons.

Monaco and overtaking – or its absence – has been the subject of endless pontification over the years. It was difficult for those who wandered around in Pendulus Levithon in the early years, which were only brakes on the front axle, tagging on a stick. Last year’s Bhavna reached a tipping point due to an early red flag, which gave all the runners a ‘free’ pitstop, which is too much in the order till the end.

While the results of the Monaco experiment have not yet been seen, the Qatar race has provided some data points. whether Max Verustapane Won by poll, the race was considered success by opinion.

The sensitivity of Pirelli’s tires for thermal decline through that season – losing the performance when pushed very hard, was blamed for the lack of overtaking, especially in warm conditions. And, to an extent, dominance of red bull.

Qatar was the first Grand Prix, where the drivers were able to work hard in a stent because everyone was so small. On its face, this is what the drivers were asking for – the end of the race set by the tire management – and many of their owners agreed.

“I would like to run more like Qatar where you just go out the flat,” Mercedes The team’s principal Toto Wolf at the end of the season. Although we must make the readers reminiscent of the feeling that Verustapen won the World Championship in Qatar, with the following five races (including triple-header and a double-header) a tedious procession of dead curves.

Whenever anyone keeps a specific race as an exemplary, he should close the alarm bell, as it was the unusual conditions of the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix, which we have today. Subsequently, the ability to produce Bridhstone tires that you could push throughout the day were considered as a villain of the piece, and the topsy-trunk weekend in Montreal displayed what could happen if the decline came into the game.

“All races should be like this,” F1 ‘Ringmaster’ was permitted to Berney Eclestone, Pireli duly distributed briefly, and here we are – with drivers – endless about the fall and tires want them to push all the race. It should be dizzy to pive up to 180 degrees, while often trying to meet the unmatched needs.

A specific number of pitstops is essentially appealing through its simplicity, it comes on hire with unexpected results and is a very thick way to try to incite changes in the ongoing order. It is similar to a board game player who tries to change a losing trajectory by throwing pieces in the air, to see where they land.

Given a similar car performance, the overtake is always full of difficulty – which is why teams are naturally reducing the number of stops made by them and will be interested in the position of the track. There is also a possibility of pitcray errors. Forcing teams to make more stops, it definitely increases the chances of the stop not going to go according to the plan, but it is a raw liver to pull.

There is a possibility of reducing strategic variation rather than promoting a fixed number of stops, as the Pirelli is trying to reduce obedient and industrially thermal decline and reduce the effects of heat stress on its tires.

Thermal decline is a factor of longer core temperatures over the long -term core temperature and differs from the occurrence of losing performance from corner to corner as the driver has caused the car to ‘spike’ by provoking the car into the slide. This is why so many are now happy to be in Bahrain, where thermal management, east bogie factor, is now highly desirable in the context of Japanese procession.

In 2023 Qatar had a proper amount of strategic variation – Vastapane and George Russell Started on mediums used in front row, Lewis Hamilton In the third on the soft – but the significant impact on it was available tires and the capacity for the newly placed track surface to inspire grains on fresh tires. In any case, the driver of the Mercedes collided with each other in the first corner, making the point moot to be rendered.

In addition, at that time there was a major step in performing Pirelli’s performance between C1 and C2 tires – hard and medium – and C1 tendency requires several intervals to reach the right temperature window, a major impact on the strategy. This year, as directed, Pirelli has reduced the difference between those compounds.

To create overtaking opportunities and engineer the desired ‘Peak and Effect’ of the Commercial Rights holder – a cognitive bias where viewers rate the overall enthusiasm of a race according to the past few of the incidents – the performance of the tire is to be more differentiated. This helps in creating a race where two stop -making drivers have enough performance in hand and pass to make those people.

“It’s a mess, if you ask me,” Carlos SainzDecision on this matter in pre-Beharan press conference. “What overtaking in my opinion is a delta (display difference) for the front car.”

This was probably the most obvious entry ever by a current F1 driver that he wanted to him And now, after Suzuka, they were complaining about itCertainly, there were circumstances – cooling compared to the expected ambients, a new surface on the part of the track that reduced the requirements for the management of the tire. But there were no opportunities to pass without a decline without hatred.

Sainz also indicated the underlying weakness of implementing a minimum number of pitstops.

“If you go on track with three most difficult compounds on tracks like Suzuka, for example, you will have flat-out racing with three compounds, and the pitstop laps always stayed in more or less similar-we all stopped in one lap,” he said. “I think you will not find tire delta or overtaking delta.

“So it is more about trying to make sure that the race is always between one and two-stops, because as you are trying to one-stop with a high decline and other teams to try to move fast on two-stops and move forward and go ahead of the flag.”

The question is whether Pireli can engineer it. Currently there is very few space to maneuver as tire compounds have been established for the year. The manufacturer may adjust the allocation for a specific race, but it cannot be done on the fly as tires are sent by the sea to reduce the carbon footprint of F1.

“What we can do, this is just working on tire compound allocation,” Pirelli’s Simon Berra said when asked by Autosport what the engineer can do for the scenarios where the choice between one and two stops is more fine. “To try, suppose, change the situation slightly.

“Obviously it is also difficult for us to predict the weather – for example we had low temperatures in Suzuka, but we can have more years more. Perhaps even 15 degrees more.

“And this is a major impact on the performance and decline of the tire, as we have seen here in Bahrain. Obviously, when we try to reduce overheating and thermal decline after comments from drivers, we can end with orthodox tires – especially with a new range that appear to be conservative.

“Therefore, for example, we have decided to be a little less conservative for the next race, which starts with Jeddah. We have four races in a row, where we are softening a step compared to last year, to make things – to make things – suppose – a little more difficult for teams, but even more interesting for the show.

“We are working on it – it is important to collect all the reactions, not only for the allocation for the second part of the season, but for the new compounds for 2026 that we are going to develop in the coming weeks.”

As usual, it is a matter of being careful what you want.