Williams goes aggressive as F1 teams differ on Spanish GP tyre choices  

Formula 1 teams have picked widely different options in their tyre selections for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix, with Williams going for the most aggressive strategy. 

F1 tyre manufacturer Pirelli has made the Supersoft, Soft and Medium compounds available for the next round of the 2018 world championship at the newly-resurfaced Circuit de Catalunya, one step softer than the choices that were available to teams in both 2016 and 2017. 

World championship leader Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas have opted for the lowest amount of the softest available compound for the weekend, selecting five sets of Supersofts each, with chief rivals Ferrari choosing seven sets of the red-walled tyre. 

But it is Williams that has made the most eye-catching picks, selecting 10 sets of Supersofts for Sergey Sirotkin and nine for Lance Stroll, who scored the team’s first points of the season in last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Both drivers will only have a single set of soft tyres available to them. 

All remaining teams have selected between five and eight sets of Supersofts, while only Sauber, Haas and the Grove-based outfit have decided to split tyre choice strategies between their drivers. 

Pirelli will run modified compounds with a lower tread thickness for the first time in Barcelona, after the FIA approved the move following concerns with regards to overheating. France and Britain will be the only other rounds on the calendar where the change is applied. 

Last time it was #F1Testing, but this time it's the real deal! Here are the sets that will make up the #SpanishGP race strategy! https://t.co/iFQAK1r3zP pic.twitter.com/g3UmjBH2pC

— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) May 1, 2018