Emilia Romagna GP 2025: Mercedes F1 Driver George Russell Questions Pirelli Over Tyre Choices at Imola

Qualifying at the Emilia Romagna GP 2025 Formula 1 race was a chaotic affair and one of the reasons for it was believed to be the tyre choices made by F1's tyre manufacturer Pirelli. 

The all-new soft compound made its debut in this race weekend as Pirelli felt the track would offer less abrasion and more grip. 

However, the choice was not a universally popular one and was questioned by Mercedes F1 team driver George Russell - who himself took a gamble and used a set of mediums in Q3. 

It was a gamble that paid off as he qualified P3 but it left the Brit questioning why the tyre choices were made in the first place. 

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Russell's Suggestion to Pirelli

He also made a suggestion that maybe the sport should decide which compound of tyre is used in what session of qualifying to make it more fair. 

"I do feel the concept of going softer to create more variety in the race is the right idea. But we sort of pre-empted this — that there will be many tracks where the C5 is better than the C6. So, then it begs the question: do you want to go back to the alternative tyre allocation where you’ve got to do a Hard, Medium, Soft in qualifying?"

Russell further warned of teams going to extremes to avoid the C6 compound. 

More Teams to Follow Mercedes?

Mercedes were outliers in their decision to use a C6 in qualifying but Russell said other teams may follow suit if tyre compounds are not mandated. 

"I feel that would be a sensible midpoint — sort of mandating the Hard, Medium, Soft for the three sessions. Otherwise, based on today, next time we go to a relatively medium-high speed circuit with a C6, everyone will be qualifying on a C5, and it shouldn’t be like that."

The debate around tyre usage has gained traction in a year when overtaking is proving harder than ever and based on the latest race, this debate isn't going away any time soon.