Verstappen prioritises long runs as tyre degradation challenges teams at Sepang

Max Verstappen’s unusual programme and Formula 1 teams’ biggest challenge in Malaysia took shape during an atypical Friday practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Lap times were four and a half seconds slower than expected because of the poor track surface. Mercedes was not as impressive as anticipated, and running plans departed from the norm, particularly for Verstappen.

Normally, drivers use the first half of the second practice session for qualifying simulations, then the second half for long runs. Verstappen chose a different approach: “I wanted to do a long run in case there was some rain coming in,” he explained. That priority also reflected the need to assess how the tyres behaved over longer distances. Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache said the team wanted to gather data on tyre degradation, regarded as a major factor at Sepang this weekend.

“We didn't want to compromise the long run, which I think is the most important thing this weekend, in terms of degradation and see how the tyres behave, especially the medium. We didn't have data of the medium, so we prioritised that and afterwards it was too late to run the soft,” Wache said. The strategy illustrates how the teams’ approach in Malaysia differs from a conventional race weekend: they focused on race pace rather than qualifying preparation alone.

The challenge is significant tyre degradation. Pirelli chief engineer Simone Berra compared it with the level seen in Barcelona: “We have seen today that the degradation was quite significant, quite high. I remember just one weekend where we had this kind of degradation and that was Barcelona.” He also put degradation at around two or three tenths per lap on both the medium and soft tyres, stressing the need to manage temperatures, especially at the rear.

The poor surface limits grip and encourages sliding, which raises tyre temperatures and further reduces grip: a difficult cycle to break. Berra said both axles need protection and the front tyres must not be overloaded, but warned that rear degradation is likely to cost more performance. He also noted that overtaking is possible at Sepang and grid position matters less than at circuits with low degradation. With race pace the priority, however, teams head into qualifying with more uncertainties than usual.

As a precaution, every team has kept two sets of hard tyres, leaving no one, including Pirelli, with data on the C2, the hardest compound available this weekend. Berra expects substantial degradation from that tyre too, while noting that Friday comparisons showed the soft could sometimes degrade at a similar or lower rate than the medium. In his view, all three compounds remain usable, with a two-stop race, or possibly even three stops, expected; several strategies therefore remain possible.