There will be a change to the qualifying format at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with a new rule that will only be used at two events in 2023.
The Alternative Tyre Allocation (ATA) was supposed to be used at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was cancelled. So its first use will be this weekend at the Hungaroring.
The rule reduces how many tyres each driver has available during the weekend and mandates which tyre compounds they must use in each segment of qualifying, assuming the session is dry.
Normally only the softest compounds nominated for a weekend appear during qualifying. The fastest teams often attempt to use fewer sets in the early stages, saving more of the softest rubber for the pole-deciding Q3 shootout. But that option won’t be available this weekend as the rules specify hard tyres only for Q1, mediums for Q2 and softs for Q3.
Mandating compound selection has already been trialled in qualifying for the sprint race in Baku. It was supposed to be used again in qualifying for the sprint at the Red Bull Ring but wet weather prevented that.
Outside of sprint race weekends teams ordinarily pick their tyres for qualifying from the 13 sets that are allocated for each car. But during this first ATA weekend, and for the second at September’s Italian Grand Prix, that is reduced to 11 sets. That means 160 fewer tyres will be transported to and from these two events compared to a regular weekend.
As usual teams have no say over which compounds they receive. Each driver will have four sets of the soft compound (which this weekend is the softest C5 option), four of the medium (C4) and three of the hard (C3). By the time they reach qualifying they will have eight sets to choose from per car as one set of tyres are to be returned to following each Friday practice session, two fewer than on a normal weekend.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
While the full implications of the rule change for a race weekend are yet to be discovered, it has generally been received positively by teams who see more than just the sustainability benefit.
“I think that alternative tyre allocation is a good thing to be trying,” said Aston Martin’s performance director Tom McCullough in response to a question from RaceFans. “I think the drivers won’t really mind going. Already in the sprint events we’ve had a bit of using different compounds in qualifying.
“But it’s just about how you adapt to understanding the different tyres and try to give the drivers good enough practice on the different compounds before qualifying and still have the good race tyres. That’s the challenge for everyone. I think it’s interesting to do stuff like that.”
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur believes F1 should vary its rules more often. “Very often we are too shy and too conservative on the format,” he said.
“It was an option that we discussed last winter in order to have new options for the future, and I think it makes sense to do it and we have to try.”
Williams have made four appearances in Q3 across the first ten rounds of 2023, but on two occasions have got neither of their cars beyond Q1. Team principal James Vowles admitted some uncertainty on how the change in rules might affect their performance.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“The idea is good. I’m not sure what it’s going to do. There’s always a little bit of concern, where you’re slightly on the slower side. Is it going to be as easy to get the harder tyres to work? Are we actually going to split the field out? But the concept of trying it is exactly why we are doing it,” Vowles said.
“We’re unsure of what the other circumstances will be, what will happen to the field spread. In many ways, there’ll be positives.
“On that harder tyre in the first session, you’ll be able to not just get one lap out of it, as is the case perhaps in Silverstone with the soft tyre, but multiple laps so you’ll see more cars going around the track, more laps being completed. That’s probably positive for the sport, a positive outcome for it.
“But will it make a bigger gap or make it more predictable? I’m unsure yet, which is exactly why we’re running it as a format. So I’m open minded, it might present a new direction of travel.”
As this year’s nominated tyre compounds for the Hungaroring are a step softer than last year, direct comparisons with what teams did 12 months ago won’t be possible. However the appearance of harder rubber earlier in qualifying is likely to mean we see more continuous laps being run as drivers build up their tyre temperatures.
That could complicate matters for the teams. It may be harder to judge which drivers are on flying laps, making it harder to avoid impeding. The knock-on effect of that could be more variability in the grid and potentially a few more penalties.
However as with the sprint race format the teams are prepared to try a change. “The key word here is open-mindedness,” said Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack, who agreed with Vasseur and Vowles that F1 needs “to try different things.”
Become a RaceFans Supporter
RaceFans is run thanks in part to the generous support of its readers. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the same in whichever currency you use) you can help cover the costs of creating, hosting and developing RaceFans today and in the future.
Become a RaceFans Supporter today and browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
