Something that is also different for 2025 is that a large part of the Suzuka Circuit has been resurfaced from the exit of the last chicane to the end of the first sector, an important section of the track featuring a mixture of medium and high-speed corners.
“Pre-event simulations, carried out using data supplied by the teams, suggests that lap times will come down thanks to the combined effect of the additional grip from the new surface and the increase in performance from the 2025 cars, which is reckoned will be around the one and a half seconds mark,” reads Pirelli’s weekend preview.
“That figure will be checked right from Friday during the first two hours of track activity. Also based on data from the teams, the Pirelli engineers have slightly modified the required minimum start pressures across both axles, with the front coming down by a half psi from 25 to 24.5 and the rear increasing by the same amount from 23 to 23.5.”
It continues: “[In 2024] there was quite a difference in strategy choices, both in terms of the number of stops, with the two-stopper nevertheless proving the most popular, and the order in which the compounds were used.
“In the end, the C1 did the most laps (61% of the total) ahead of the medium (31%) and the soft only doing a short first or final stint, as its performance drop was quite significant.
“Worth noting that, starting on the medium and making only one change to hard, Charles Leclerc managed to make up four places from his grid position, to finish eighth.
“This year with what is on paper a big performance differential between the compounds, a one-stop could prove more complicated, although one must wait and see what influence the newly surfaced part of the track might have, as well as what the temperatures will be this weekend.”
For more information about Pirelli’s F1 tyres, visit pirelli.com.
