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Look at the state of the tyre on the back left. This would compromise grip losing acceleration and race performance.
What I find kind of funny is the FIA is trying to reduce the bigger teams dominance by reducing budgets. Preventing teams spending on Aero dynamics and testing hasn't really changed anything yet messing with tyre compounds has. You can have all the downforce in the world which every team is striving for and without grip it is totally useless. We can see the differences between the two Ferrari cars and it is not all about drivers as I believe both cars are set up entirely differently.
Over the last few weekends we have seen how important the tyres are becoming and why selecting the right race strategy is more crucial than ever. The problem all teams are having is that the Friday practice session is at 3pm and is the closes teams are getting to the 2pm Sunday start times. This one hour difference equated to about 5 degrees in track temperature which seems small but in reality plays a major role.
Race conditions are different to practice sessions as you are doing more consecutive laps at race pace. Braking and turning at high speeds causing friction generating heat in the tyre. The tyre has tread on top of the rubber casing and with the tread moving around the rubber heats up. Temperatures get so high that the rubber boils causing bubbles and that is how blistering occurs.
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The problem lies in the fact that as blistering happens it causes the tyre to have less contact with the road. The blistering rubber has lost it's properties and the rubber degrades at a faster rate. This makes the car lose grip and ultimately lose race performance. Camber settings or the angle that the tyre hits the track is as important as the entire package that has cost the teams hundreds of millions to develop.
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What was interesting was that certain teams coped with the tyre degradation better than others. In all the races up until Silverstone Mercedes has been the fastest car yet without the grip from the tyres Red Bull out performed them and should have won both races instead of just the one race. If they hadn't of bottled it and stayed true to their convictions they wold have won the first race. Verstappen not pitting would have made Hamiltons tyres blow earlier as he wouldn't have been able to nurse them on the final lap. Who knows as he possibly may not have even finished the race.
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A telling story behind the safety car ad both leading cars look as though their tyres are shot.
The aero dynamics and car set ups are as important as the engine completing the whole package. Red Bull seem to have a better balance overall for the hotter tracks and need to take advantage whilst the summer weather is around. This will change as we move into autumn so the window for Red Bull to put pressure on Mercedes will slowly vanish.Having the majority of the season in Europe this year will help Mercedes more than any other team. Track temperatures should stat dropping over the coming weeks and the only hope is Pirelli reduce the hardness of their compounds to make it more interesting.
Over the last few years tyres have never been a major influence and lately they have become the major talking point. The FIA has done this on purpose trying to level the field making races closer making teams with superior engineering and tech second guessing. Teams haven't been able to catch Mercedes who are way out in front so changing certain components the FIA is bringing the other teams to them through manipulation. I don't agree with this and feel it is not in the best interest of the sport as it is stopping development in some way.