Mercedes Faces Unusual Tire Problems At Saudi Arabian GP

While other teams dealt with tire graining at the Saudi Arabian GP, Mercedes encountered a different challenge — blistering on their tires, as reported from trackside.

George Russell experienced a dramatic performance drop during the race due to his car’s overheating tires. This situation contrasted with the Jeddah track’s typically good grip characteristics, which usually only present graining issues.

The tire temperature problem caused a chain reaction — reduced grip, increased sliding, and further tire heating. While Ferrari managed the situation successfully, Mercedes struggled to control their tire temperatures.

“It’s about how fast we’re going through these corners, and for whatever reason, we’ve generated more temperature than our rivals,” explained Russell. “Then suddenly the tires are like a balloon. We had blistering on the front, blistering on the rear, and then suddenly you just have no grip at all.”

Different approaches were shown by the two Mercedes drivers — Russell suffered severe tire degradation, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli recorded his best sector times at the end of his stint.

Toto Wolff acknowledged this as a setback for the team:

“It was clearly our worst performance of the year. The pace just dropped away with blistering, overheating tires, and so far we haven’t got an explanation.”

Mercedes‘ struggle with tire overheating at the Saudi Arabian GP highlights the challenges teams face in managing tire performance, especially in hot conditions. As the season progresses, Mercedes will likely focus on finding a solution to avoid these issues in future races.