Tyre performance continues to be one of Mercedes’ few weak points and, while it largely cured that issue through the Hybrid-turbo era, there have been occasions where it has caused problems. Leading up to the 70th Anniversary race, the left-front wear problems in the British GP that led to failures on both cars was fresh in its mind. And the move to softer-compound tyres only meant its headache could get even worse.

Just to throw another variable in the mix, Pirelli decided to increase the minimum tyre pressures too. At the front of the car, the teams would have to run at least 27psi (up by 2psi) and 22psi at the rear (up by 1psi). While this might not sound much, it’s actually a substantial change in F1 terms, causing the tyres to “balloon” as Hamilton described after the race.

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