While a maximum distance of 18 laps for each set of tyres appears quite simple, it is far from it.
It is certainly not a case of stopping on laps 18, 36 and 54 and running until the chequered flag. Things are more complicated than that, firstly by the fact teams will not want to head into the pits when everyone else does, as that opens the risk of traffic chaos. It will be better to stagger pitstops.
But of more significance is a shortage of tyre options.
With Qatar being a sprint race weekend, with two qualifying sessions, teams have burned through more sets of softs than they perhaps do on a regular weekend.
That means they have locked themselves into a pretty restricted number of hards and mediums for the grand prix.
Plus, with the soft tyre having appeared to be a poor tyre for race conditions in the sprint on Saturday, it is unlikely that it is going to play much of a factor – unless required for a short stint late on.
Instead, F1 teams are going to have to rely on the medium and the hard, but very few drivers have been left with enough new sets for the race.
Only four drivers – Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda, Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon – have two sets of mediums and two sets of hards that allow them to fit fresh rubber at each stop.
Source: Autosport