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Not much question about strategy in Miami on Sunday. Despite the
30C heat, this is likely to be a one-stop race. Although keeping the tyres from
overheating is not easy, wear is low, so everyone will be driving carefully to
thermally manage their tyres and make what is likely to be for most a
medium-hard tyre single-stop strategy work.
Some may play around, and try starting on the hard; others may try
the soft. But the softer compound does not give the same size of grip advantage
as normal here, it does not last as long as the medium, and a new soft is
unpredictable to drive, so it’s not as interesting an option as it might
otherwise be.
Pit-stop time loss is around 21 seconds. Tricky timings for a
safety car will be around seven laps in, as that is right on the edge of the
range limit for a hard to get to the end.