“Strategy was dictated by who reacted best to changing circumstances” – Mario Isola

Mario Isola said the Monaco Grand Prix was made unpredictable by the changeable weather at the Circuit de Monaco, and getting the strategies right defined just where drivers finished.

All drivers started on the full wet compound behind the safety car, and the first-choice drivers had was to either make the switch to either the intermediate compound early or wait to switch to the dry weather slick tyre, with drivers making different decisions up and down the grid.

Isola, the Motorsport Director at Pirelli, said a lot of factors across the race, such as the red flag for Mick Schumacher’s crash in the Swimming Pool complex, made for difficult decisions for team and drivers around which tyre to use.

“This was one of those unpredictable Monaco races where strategy was dictated by who reacted best to changing circumstances, with those who took a chance sometimes rewarded,” said Isola.

“The changing weather after two days of sunshine added a number of complications to what should otherwise have been a reasonably straightforward race strategy, with the decision about when to get off the full wet tyre and which tyre to put on next being absolutely critical, on very slippery street asphalt that clearly affected the crossover point, rather than temperatures.

“Added to this were a number of unforeseeable factors such as the safety car and red flag, which required yet more immediate decisions – influenced also of course by which tyres the drivers had available to them.”

Isola says Sergio Pérez’s call to use the Medium compound at the restart helped the Mexican win and maintain his position ahead of Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr., although the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver had the manage the tyres to the chequered flag.

“Pérez’s decision to use the medium for the final stint helped him to seal the race victory, ahead of Carlos Sainz on the hard, although Pérez also had to manage his tyres in the closing stages,” he said.  

“Every tyre in our Formula 1 range was used during this race, with all performing well despite a completely unknown set of conditions and crossover points on the tightest and most unforgiving track of the season.”

Credit: Pirelli Motorsport