Despite a general consensus among drivers that Pirelli's compound choices are too hard for the Circuit de Catalunya, teams are faced with a choice between a two-stop and a three-stop strategy on Sunday afternoon. The reason for the multi-stop approach is the huge gap in performance between the soft compound tyres and the medium compound (not to mention the even bigger step to the hards).
During Friday practice a new set of medium tyres were 2.7s per lap slower than the softs, although Pirelli believes its data was skewed by a number of messy laps not helped by high winds. But conditions aside, the gap between the compounds is so big that it makes more sense to make an extra pit stop (or two) for fresh softs than it does to do a one-stop with more time on the mediums.
According to Pirelli's data, the fastest strategy of all is three stints on softs and just six laps on the mediums at the end to minimise the time on the white-banded rubber. But with overtaking opportunities few and far between in Barcelona, teams will be wary of sacrificing track position and getting stuck behind a slower car on a two-stop. As a result, most drivers are likely to opt for the slower soft-soft-medium approach while still trying to minimise the time on the medium.
Degradation is greater on the softs but is still well short of the target set by the FIA at the start of the year of 2.0s over ten laps at this circuit. Something in the region of 1.0-1.5s is more likely, but the key will be protecting the rear tyres in the final sector. For years, wear on the front left has been the limiting factor at Barcelona, but with this generation of tyres being less susceptible to graining the focus is now on rear degradation.
One option for drivers on the second half of the grid is to start on mediums in the hope that an early safety car allows for a free swap to the softs. Even without the safety car, it could offer a reverse strategy to find clear air on the softs after an early stop and then attack on another set of softs towards the end of the race.