Pirelli’s Mario Isola: “A fitting way to close the chapter on 13-inch tyres”

Mario Isola was pleased that all three compounds that Pirelli Motorsport brought to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix played an important part in the season finale, with Max Verstappen’s pit stop for the soft compound under safety car conditions proving vital to the final result.

Verstappen pit once the safety car had been deployed following Nicholas Latifi’s crash while race leader Lewis Hamilton remained on the hard compound, and once the lapped runners between the title rivals were allowed through, the Red Bull Racing driver had the grip advantage on the final lap restart that allowed him to pass the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver for the lead and the championship.

Isola, the Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli, said the championship battle and the season finale were fitting ways to end the era of thirteen-inch tyres in Formula 1, with the eighteen-inch tyres being introduced to the sport in 2022.

“We had a tense and strategic battle for the championship, when a virtual safety car and then a full safety car provided two pivotal moments,” said Isola.  

“Max Verstappen pitted for new tyres on each occasion and tried to hunt down Lewis Hamilton, who stayed out and managed his tyres well to the finish, but could do nothing about the effect of Verstappen’s fresh soft tyres on the final lap.

“From the beginning, the two title protagonists had diverging strategies, starting on different compounds and adopting different strategies, which we saw all the way down the field; thanks also to the unpredictable nature of this race.

“All three compounds played an important role, standing up extremely well to the challenge of this new track layout and contributing to a thrilling finale. Congratulations to Max Verstappen for his first title and to Mercedes for clinching the constructors’ championship.

“It’s been an absolutely incredible season with some of the most intense competition we can remember: a fitting way to close the chapter on 13-inch tyres before starting a new one with 18 inches.”