Bridgestone's head of tire development Hirohide Hamashima confirmed that his company will return to one step gap between tire options starting the race in Montreal, which the teams will have to tackle with the super soft and medium compound Potenzas. The same tire allocation will go for the European Grand Prix (held at Valencia street circuit) also, while the British Grand Prix will see Bridgestone bring the soft and hard compounds.
“The Canadian and European Grands Prix take place on street courses where it is important to have good grip due to the slippery nature of the track surfaces,” explained Hamashima his company's choice of compounds for the Montreal and Valencia races.
“As these tracks are not used regularly for racing, even the allocations we bring will seem too hard when used on the Friday. By race day the circuit improvement and rubber laid will mean that the high grip of the super soft compound paired with the greater durability of the medium compound should provide a good combination,” added the Japanese official.
“The Silverstone circuit is historically the most severe on the calendar and now the new layout makes it even more severe. The new straight means a higher average speed, and there is hard braking and fierce acceleration over a lap.”
“As always, we will be very vigilant to watch tyre temperature and wear. We expect we will see graining, even with the hard compound, but we believe that the soft and the hard compounds should allow exciting racing.”
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