Formula 1 fans can expect to see less activity in the pits but more action on track this year, according to the sport’s official tyre supplier.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola believes the changes to cars and tyres for the 2019 F1 season will improve quality of the racing on track, but expects single pit stop strategies to remain the norm.

Asked whether he expects the teams’ preference for one-stop strategies to continue this year, Isola said: “I think so.”

Last year Pirelli produced a softer range of tyres, hoping this would encourage teams to adopt more multi-stop strategies. Instead they favoured single-stop race plans as they were unwilling to sacrifice position on track due to the difficulty of overtaking.

Isola said Pirelli’s new tyres for 2019 will complement changes to the cars which are intended to aid closer racing and overtaking.

“The target is to make overtaking easier,” he explained. “The car that is following is feeling less the car in front, so you’re losing less downforce.

“On top of that the DRS would be more efficient – also that is in the direction of encouraging overtaking. And then also five kilograms of fuel more, so they have to save less fuel.

“That’s why we wanted to design tyres that are less sensitive to overheating and a bit more consistent because with the full package. [So] we maybe have one-stop but more action on-track. That’s the target, for overtaking on track.”

Isola also doubts the new cars will be slower as a result of the tyre and aerodynamic changes for 2019. “Everybody was convinced the new aero package was going to reduce the downforce,” he said. “Looking at the lap times, probably not.”

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2019 F1 season