The ATA rules are designed to improve F1’s sustainability credentials by reducing the number of sets that Pirelli has to bring to each weekend while also potentially creating some strategic variety on race day.
The format will also be trialled at the Italian GP before its impact is assessed by the FIA and a more extensive use in the future is considered.
The standard weekend allocation of dry tyres is 13 sets, comprised of two hards, three mediums and eight softs.
Under the ATA rules, drivers get only 11 sets, with three hards, four mediums and four softs. One set has to be returned after FP1, another after FP2, and two more after FP3. Drivers must retain a set of hards and a set of mediums for race day, but they should end up with two sets of each and thus more options for race strategy.
Crucially, how teams use the tyres in qualifying is now prescribed. They can only use hards in Q1, mediums in Q2 and softs in Q3.
A similar format has also been adopted this year for the sprint shootout, and as was the case on Saturday in Austria if the session is declared wet, the slick restrictions are voided.
Pirelli has added another element of intrigue by going one step softer than last year and taking its C3, C4 and C5 compounds to Hungary, having done the same for the aborted Imola event. In other words, last year’s Budapest medium is this year’s hard.
Source: Autosport