After FP1 on Friday, Pirelli followed standard procedure by analysing the tyres and identified a microscopic separation in the sidewall between the topping compound and the carcass cords.
This was caused by drivers running over the new-for-2023 ‘pyramid’ kerbs at the Losail circuit which feature a raised 50mm border that was causing significant impacts as the tyres drop over the edge.
Further analysis followed the 19-lap Saturday sprint race that crowned triple champion Max Verstappen to assess if the FIA should mandate three-stop strategies for teams in the GP.
Due to three safety car interruptions in the sprint race, only 12 laps were completed at race speed. This was not sufficient to meaningfully add to Pirelli’s prior analysis.
During a Sunday afternoon (1400 local time, six hours before the race start) meeting of F1 team managers, the FIA revealed the outcome of Pirelli’s overnight investigation. Accordingly, the outcome is that the governing body has imposed a maximum stint length of 18 laps for new tyres.
An FIA statement read: “Due to the frequency of Safety Car interventions in yesterday’s Sprint, the tyre data available for analysis by Pirelli was insufficient to add to that already undertaken following previous track sessions.
“In some cases, tyres that were analysed from the Sprint did show the initial onset of the separation in the sidewall between the topping compound and the carcass cords of the tyres.
Source: Autosport