Ferrari opts for aggressive tyre picks at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Ferrari has maxed out on its ultrasoft tyre allocation ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen set to receive a total of 10 sets each of the softest compound tyre provided by Pirelli in Baku.

Pirelli previously announced it had selected the softs, supersofts and ultrasofts as its tyre choices for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which hosts the fourth round of the 2018 Formula 1 season, with the team’s tyre picks revealing Ferrari has opted for the largest allocation of ultrasofts for both drivers alongside the Alfa Romeo Sauber pair of Charles Leclerc, Marus Ericsson as well as McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne.

Vettel has opted for two sets of the supersofts and just one set of softs, while teammate Raikkonen going for the opposite approach with one set of ultrasofts and two sets of softs, with the same tactic being used by Alfa Romeo Sauber and its two drivers.

Mercedes has opted to go one step more conservative with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas both taking nine sets of ultrasofts, while the defending F1 world champion has two sets each of the softs and the supersofts and his Finnish teammate opting for one set of softs and three sets of supersofts.

Red Bull has gone one step further with eight sets of the ultrasoft tyres each for Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen as the pair mirror tyres picks with two sets of softs and three sets of ultrasofts.

Pirelli’s 2018 F1 tyre compounds were designed to be two steps softer than the previous season and at the first three races have seen tyre strategy play a key role in the result. Red Bull were the only top team to pit for fresh tyres under the safety car at the Chinese Grand Prix which paid off as Ricciardo charged through the top order to claim a dramatic victory.