How did Red Bull beat out Mercedes in F1 tire wars? Pirelli boss shares his opinion

Pirelli boss Mario Isola claims Red Bull were able to beat Mercedes and Ferrari with tire degradation as the team was probably more focused on that aspect of car development than their competitors. The Austrian team has already secured both titles in 2022 and has shifted its focus to next season.

F1 is not only about how fast a car can go around a lap. As proven by Ferrari in 2022, managing tires is a crucial part of car development which is often overlooked by casual fans and viewers.

Ferraris often turn out to be the fastest cars on a Saturday but drop off considerably in comparison to the Bulls and the Silver Arrows the following day when their tires are put through more than 50 laps of hard racing. Tire management wasn't the Austrian team's strong suit at the start of the season, but they have tweaked their car development program to give them the upper hand over Mercedes and Ferrari in recent races.

The Pirelli boss said:

"To be honest, Red Bull is especially good with the tyres in the last few races. don't know what they did with the car to achieve that, but it's probably upgrades throughout the season. In the beginning, Red Bull was not always so good with the tyres, but now we see that they have made a big step forward compared to the first part of the season. That's probably what they focused on."

Mercedes is now only a couple of tenths behind Red Bull, claims the team's engineer

Mercedes engineer and chief strategist James Vowles claims his team is now only a couple of tenths behind Red Bull in 2022. The German team is still searching for their first win of the season.

Vowles claimed his team's gap to the Austrian team is now down to a tenth or two, saying:

"I think it varies per circuit, but we are not far from Ferrari anymore. In Mexico, we were even in favor of it. However, Red Bull is still ahead of us. I don't think it's three-tenths like we saw in qualifying, but it will be a couple of tenths in the next races."

Mercedes have come close to challenging the 2022 constructors' champions in recent races but often drop off badly towards the end of the race. Lewis Hamilton seemed to be able to stay in contention for the lead against Max Verstappen in Mexico, but the Dutchman breezed his way to victory after Mercedes went with the wrong tire choice for the Briton.

With their first win of the 2022 season within a hair's breadth in recent times, the hunt continues for the Silver Arrows and Lewis Hamilton at the 2022 F1 Brazilian GP.