Unfortunately, Pirelli is not bringing the Ultrasoft tyre to Baku this weekend. Instead, we’ll see the
same compounds as last year, Supersoft, Soft and Medium. This selection was called conservative in 2016 and that was when the tyres degraded significantly! Last year the leaders went for 20 laps on the Supersofts that they had already used in qualifying, then made one pitstop, switched to Softs and ran those for 30+ laps until the end of the race.
There is little reason to think that the strategy this weekend will be any different except that the Supersoft stint may be 30 laps (or more) followed by the remainder on Softs. It’s hard to envision a reason to use the Medium compound although a few teams have elected more than the minimum of one set. Let’s take a look:
