Boosting Formula 1 Race Strategies through Soft Tyres and Swifter Pit Lane Speeds

The Formula 1 (F1) governing body, the FIA, is taking steps to make select races more strategically engaging, including the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort and the Singapore Grand Prix. This move comes in response to concerns raised during the opening rounds of the 2025 season about one-stop grands prix being relatively straightforward.

Softer Tyres for Increased Pit Stops and Entertainment

To make contests more strategically interesting, tyre manufacturer Pirelli has opted for compounds that are one step softer than last year’s tyres in Jeddah and Miami. The aim is to promote higher tyre wear, leading to more pit stops, diverse strategies, and heightened entertainment for the fans. However, this strategy had minimal impact on the one-stop strategies in Jeddah due to low tyre wear, although it may have a greater effect in Miami this weekend.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali met with Pirelli’s Mario Isola during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend to discuss potential solutions for enhancing the season’s excitement.

Higher Pit Lane Speed for Attractive Extra Stops

In addition to softer compounds, the FIA is exploring other options such as raising the pit lane speed limit. For most grands prix, the pit limiter is set at 80 km/h, but it is just 60 km/h for safety reasons in Melbourne, Monaco, Zandvoort, and Singapore. The FIA is considering increasing the speed to 80km/h for Zandvoort and Singapore, which should reduce the overall time loss during pit stops, encouraging teams to adopt different strategies. For instance, the total stop time could be reduced from approximately 29 seconds to just 23 seconds in Singapore.

However, minor adjustments to the pit lanes in Zandvoort and Singapore are required for this change, which need to be completed and approved before the plan can be officially communicated. The regulations do not need changing, as Article 34.7 of the FIA Sporting Regulations already states that a speed limit of 80km/h will be imposed in the pit lane during the whole competition.

Mandatory Pit Stops for Monaco and Its Impact

For Monaco, increasing the maximum speed is not possible, but the FIA is opting for a minimum of two mandatory pit stops. However, drivers are questioning the impact this will have and how it will work in practice. Rookie Oliver Bearman expressed his doubts, suggesting that if no restrictions were imposed, he would pit on lap 1 and again on lap 2, completing the race on hard tyres. But he believes the FIA has a solution to prevent such strategies and expects the changes to yield intriguing results.

Stay tuned for more updates as the F1 season unfolds!