Pirelli Expecting ‘Rapid Track Evolution’ and ‘Good Grip’ on Miami Grand Prix Debut

Mario Isola says there is a lot of excitement about the forthcoming Miami Grand Prix, but being a new venue means Pirelli are being conservative when it comes to tyre compound choices.

Pirelli are bringing their C2 (white-walled hard), C3 (yellow-walled medium) and C4 (red-walled soft) compounds to the track, the middle of their range of available compounds in 2022.

On a track that has some high-speed sections much like the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia as well as some slower, more technical sections, Isola, the Motorsport Director at Pirelli, is expecting a lot of track evolution and a lot of initial grip levels.

With cars likely to run at a medium level of downforce, Isola foresees some sliding around the higher speed corners, but he is interested to see the first Miami Grand Prix and how Pirelli’s tyres face up to the challenges of the brand-new circuit in the United States.

“There’s been a huge buzz of excitement around the first Miami Grand Prix, where the track has some similarities to Jeddah, although there are some parts that are slower and more technical than Saudi Arabia: especially the section from Turns 11 to 16,” said Isola.

“The rest is a very quick layout, running anti-clockwise, which puts the emphasis on the tyres on the right hand side of the car. We’re expecting the usual rapid track evolution and a smooth surface with the new asphalt, but the track has been jet-washed at high pressure, which means that it should offer quite good grip from the beginning.

“Because it’s a fast track the cars are likely to run a low to medium downforce set-up, which could lead to a bit of sliding in the high-speed corners on the hard compounds in particular.

“For any new track our choice tends to be on the conservative side, so it will be interest to confront the simulations with real data.”

Credit: Pirelli Motorsport