The Red Bull and McLaren Formula 1 teams have gone very aggressive with their tyre choices for the Belgian Grand Prix, heavily favouring the ultra-soft tyre.
Despite the cornering demands of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Pirelli has elected to take its three softest compounds to this month’s race as it feels this will prompt the most exciting racing.
Red Bull and McLaren who have picked the highest number of ultra-softs, choosing nine sets each for their drivers.
This is in contrast to more conservative choices elsewhere – with Mercedes choosing six ultra-softs for its drivers, while Ferrari is taking seven sets.
Red Bull’s split means that Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen will only have one set of the soft tyres for the weekend.
Belgian Grand Prix tyre choices
| Driver | Soft | Super-soft | Ultra-soft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Max Verstappen | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Sergio Perez | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Esteban Ocon | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Felipe Massa | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Lance Stroll | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Fernando Alonso | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Carlos Sainz Jr | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Romain Grosjean | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Jolyon Palmer | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Marcus Ericsson | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Pascal Wehrlein | 3 | 3 | 7 |