McLaren opts for aggressive tyre picks at Bahrain GP

McLaren pair Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne have selected the most aggressive tyre allocations for the Bahrain Grand Prix compared to the rest of the Formula 1 field.

Both McLaren drivers have maximised their picks of Pirelli’s Supersoft tyres - the softest option tyres available for Bahrain - with nine sets each sacrificing its other options with three sets of the Soft tyres and just one set of the Medium tyres.

The closest teams to follow McLaren’s ramped-up strategy are Force India, Renault and Haas with all of their drivers selecting eight Supersoft tyres sets, three Softs and two Mediums expect for the US team’s Kevin Magnussen who has slightly deviated with four sets of Softs and just one set of Mediums.

Pirelli’s 2018 F1 tyres are effectively two steps softer compared to last year after the Italian tyre manufacturer was accused of going too conservative with its compound constructions which saw the majority of races completed with just one required pit stop.

With less durable tyres more pit stops per race are targeted in order to open up strategy options to shake some added excitement into F1 races for 2018.

At the 2018 F1 opener none of the drivers suffered with heavy tyre degradation, aided by the Virtual Safety Car and following Safety Car period midway through the race, but with a smaller likelihood of a Safety Car at the Sakhir International Circuit plus the much hotter track temperatures it is considered to be the first serious test of Pirelli’s new tyre range.

For the Bahrain race Pirelli opted to make the Medium its hardest option tyre joined by the Softs and Supersofts.

A full breakdown of each F1 driver’s tyre picks for Bahrain can be found here:

Round 1 is over, now it's time to see the #Fit4F1 shoewear available for round 2 in #BahrainGP. It will be HOT!!! #F1 #F12018
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— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) March 28, 2018