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Sebastian Vettel questions tyre strategies of Mercedes and Red Bull

Utkarsh Bhatla
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Sebastian Vettel

The Australian Grand prix is just 12 days from now and the teams are gearing up for it in order to stamp their supremacy over the others early on in the season.

Sebastian Vettel, who had a good enough show at the Barcelona testing has questioned the strategies of Mercedes and Red Bull, who did not opt for a raceday simulation on the final day, running solely on medium Pirelli tyres.

Also Read: Wolff exposes Red Bull’s massive strategic blunder

F1 rules state that races must be completed using a minimum of two types of Pirelli tyres.

Vettel did the ‘race dry run’ for himself on the last day of testing, starting with supersofts and then undergoing two stints with medium tyres, a run that was very similar to what every driver would do on race day.

“Our competitors – Mercedes and Red Bull – used one type of tyre for their race distance simulations, which is something you can’t do in a Grand Prix,” Vettel said.

“This has an impact on the strategies and ultimately on the result.” he added.

Also Read: Verstappen knows the formula to winning F1 title

Vettel is pretty much looking forward to the Australian Grand Prix and feels that Ferrari are in good shape this season.

“I think we’re starting from a good base with our SF71H car,” he said. “Now we’ll have to work on development to further explore and improve its potential. I have a lot of confidence in our team, I know how skilled and committed the guys in Maranello are.

“We did a good job in terms of mileage, totalling some 4,323km of running. I had a personal best of 188 laps in one day, which is 875km and a total of nearly three thousand! We did not experience any major issues with the car, and I had fun driving it.” he Vettel concluded.

Why do you think Mercedes and Red Bull not opt for a ‘race day dry run’? Part of strategy or maybe they just missed out on something very simple!

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