Two hidden factors that could decide the F1 Barcelona GP
With the heat in Barcelona set to make tyre management crucial, Pirelli says there are two under-the-radar factors that could play a major role in Sunday's race: differences in rim designs and significantly varying set-up choices
Motorsport photoWhile 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 fi
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