Two hidden factors that could decide the F1 Barcelona GP

While the first months of 2026 have been dominated by discussions about power units and energy management, a different topic has taken centre stage in Barcelona: tyres. Supplier Pirelli says it is not necessarily looking for that kind of attention, although given the conditions it is unavoidable.

The Barcelona Grand Prix is the hottest F1 weekend of the 2026 season so far, with track temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius on both Friday and Saturday. Add to that the fact that Pirelli has not brought the hardest compounds in its range, but instead a step softer (C2, C3 and C4), and it becomes clear that tyre degradation levels are extremely high.

That already meant the soft and even the medium compound were, in Pirelli’s words, “one-lap tyres” during qualifying. For the race, however, managing the severe degradation will become a crucial factor.

“We have seen high level of degradation figures, up to two or three tenths, which is quite a big number,” Pirelli chief engineer Simone Berra explained. “This is mainly due to the track characteristics, roughness of the asphalt, energy of the layout, and also the high track temperatures.”

Although the heat is logically the main factor, the asphalt at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is also among the roughest on the entire calendar. “The level of macro roughness is high compared to other circuits. It is the second in the ranking of macro roughness of the season, after Bahrain. And obviously, this is a factor.”

It presents a completely different challenge to Montreal and Monaco, where teams struggled simply to get the tyres into the correct operating window and then keep them there.

“It’s not really common to have these kind of values. For this circuit, we have seen this level of degradation in some cases, but that was with the old product, the old car. So, for this year’s car, it’s the first time, also for this kind of product,” Berra said, referring to Pirelli’s 2026 tyres.

“I know that the teams will try to find a way to, let’s say, keep the temperatures under control. This is something that they will try. Not an easy one, but for sure the lift and coast and power management will also help them with the tyre management.”

“Kill understeer” or protect the rears? Key differences between teams

In that regard, there are notable differences between cars and driving styles. Some are better at bringing tyres into the operating window in conditions such as Montreal, while others excel at keeping them alive in hot conditions – an area where McLaren has traditionally been strong in recent years. According to Andrea Stella, however, that is no longer the case.

Pirelli explains that there are two additional factors that could play a major role and are perhaps less visible to the naked eye: differing set-up choices and rim designs.

Regarding the former, Pirelli sees considerable variation in Barcelona. Some teams have taken more aggressive steps to reduce understeer for qualifying. That has helped one-lap pace, but could create rear tyre issues during the race.

“It’s the choice of the balance, and also depends on how the teams decided to approach qualifying and then the race with the same set-up”, Pirelli’s head of motorsport Dario Marrafuschi said.

“This track is stressful for the front axle in terms of sliding, so it’s a kind of wear and degradation, constant degradation of the front axle and overheating of the rear. It depends on how the teams chose to approach qualifying with the set-up, depending if they decided to kill the understeer during qualifying to have a good starting position. But in this case they will suffer in the hot conditions during the race because of the rear balance.

“Or if they protected the rear axle today in vision of a more consistent race. I think this is going to be a valuable and exciting variable to see in the fights on track.”

Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Different rim designs a bigger factor in Barcelona

The second factor is, as mentioned, rim design. Until 2025, teams used a standardised supplier rim, but from this season onward teams have been allowed to develop their own open-source designs. According to Pirelli, there are major differences between the various approaches on the grid.

“It’s quite a significant variation. And also the teams are bringing new rim specifications during the season because they know that they can somehow work around with rims and try to impact tyre performance”, Berra explained.

“What we’ve seen this year is that generally stabilised conditions are much lower than in the past. This is because the rims are basically cooling the whole wheel and the tyre itself. This is generating quite a big difference, not only on the rim geometry, but also in stabilising quite high with the temperatures and pressures.

“Some other teams are stabilising very low. There are completely different approaches. And I think especially here this will have a big impact. The teams that have worked to cool down the tyres and the rim a lot will have much more benefit than other teams.”

According to Pirelli, some teams’ designs are better suited to conditions such as Montreal, where lower temperatures made it difficult to get the tyres into the right window. Other designs focus more on keeping tyres as cool as possible in extremely hot conditions, and that could provide a significant advantage in the heat of Barcelona.

One might assume teams could simply switch between different rim designs depending on the track and conditions, but Pirelli says it is not that straightforward.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

“No, they cannot switch for just one weekend because for us it’s difficult to manage different rim specifications”, Berra replied. “They can start the season with one rim specification and at some point if they decide to change, they can switch to another rim. Otherwise it’s not possible.

“But for sure they can develop something affecting the tyre behaviour. In general I know that the FIA is working to avoid that the teams are using the rim to really cool down the tyre because that’s not the purpose of the rim itself. So there are some implications in the regulations and everything should be approved before introducing a new rim specification.”

In reality, teams must notify both Pirelli and the FIA before introducing a new rim design. The drawings have to be submitted, after which Pirelli must also test the design before approval is granted. The process takes several weeks, meaning a new design cannot be introduced overnight.

There is no limit on the number of rim designs a team can introduce during a season, but because such developments fall under the budget cap, financial reality effectively determines the limit.

Two-stop or three-stop strategy for the Barcelona GP?

Regardless, tyre management is set to be a huge challenge for every team on the grid. Drivers said after qualifying that they expect “at least two pitstops”, and Pirelli agrees.

“We expect at least a two-stop strategy – at least two stops. In theory, we expect that the best strategy is medium-hard-hard, also because teams have saved the hard tyres and we think they probably wanted to have those tyres as an option for the race”, Marrafuschi said.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

“The common sense let us think that the two stops with medium-hard-hard could be an option with a first stop between 15 and 21 and the second between 38 and 44.”

One interesting detail is that Pirelli’s preferred strategy requires two fresh sets of hard tyres. Max Verstappen, however, no longer has that option after becoming the only driver to run the hard compound on Friday.

Asked which of the remaining alternatives would be best, Marrafuschi continued: “The second option we foresee could be medium-hard-soft. In this case, the second stop would be towards the last part of the race between lap 45 and 51, with the first stop between 19 and 25. There is another possibility, and this really has to be evaluated during the race also according to the traffic or any possible race management in terms of safety cars, the three-stop strategy.”

For someone like Verstappen, that option could on paper even be quicker than a two-stop strategy, but Pirelli also issued a warning.

“It’s a little bit faster, but you have to take traffic into account”, Berra added to Marrafuschi’s explanation.

“And that’s not a matter just of overtaking. You can probably overtake in the end, because if you have a delta tyre performance, you can overtake. But the point is that you risk to overheat the tyres more, to try to push and overtake the car in front. So, you risk to end up with higher degradation levels, so it’s not very effective in the end.”

Regardless of which strategies ultimately emerge, the Barcelona GP promises to be the first race of this season – and therefore of this new era – in which tyre management truly becomes the decisive factor.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

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