Ever wondered how many wheels and tyres are handled during a single F1 race weekend?

Let’s run the numbers.

On Wednesday and Thursday, teams bring their wheel rims to Pirelli, which mounts, balances and marks the tyres for each car.

Each car uses 13 sets of tyres — 52 individual tyres and 52 rims. Multiply that by 22 cars, and you get 1,144 tyres and 1,144 rims to prepare before the cars even hit the track.

But that’s only half the job.

By Sunday night, the wheels and tyres must be dismantled. Pirelli takes the tyres — including unused ones — for recycling, while the rims are returned to the teams.

That means the tyre crew handles the equivalent of 2,288 tyre-and-rim assemblies every race weekend.

To keep everything running smoothly under tight deadlines, Pirelli typically brings three mobile workshops to each event.

A huge operation behind the scenes — all to make sure the right tyres are ready when the lights go out. 🏎️🛞

Most probably, yes.

Just look at MotoGP, where Sprint races have become a regular part of every Grand Prix weekend. It is getting harder to argue against the trend: less practice, more racing.

There is also a commercial incentive. Race promoters have reportedly seen revenues at Sprint weekends increase by at least 15% compared with traditional formats. TV figures and overall viewership also suggest that fans want more action.

Of course, there is a catch. At circuits where overtaking is difficult, races can become processions, leaving qualifying as the decisive session of the weekend.

So why not have two qualifying sessions instead of one?

It makes perfect sense at circuits where track position is everything. That is why Monaco is set to host a Sprint weekend in 2027 — and why the format could work even better there than many expect.

Singapore offered an early test of the idea last weekend.

Less practice. More racing. This could be the future of F1 weekends. 🏎️

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Let’s look at Cadillac’s qualifying gaps from the start of the season through Round 17.

The numbers tell a sobering story. Cadillac have made some progress, but the overall improvement is smaller than many might have expected — and the gap remains substantial.

As a global brand, Cadillac can probably tolerate being at the back during its inaugural season. But from Year Two onwards, expectations will rise sharply.

No major upgrades are planned for the remaining races of 2026. For now, the biggest gains are likely to come from optimisation: better set-up, smoother operations and extracting more from the existing package, rather than waiting for a technical breakthrough.

Cadillac is expected to remain at the back for the rest of the season with a clear target of a qualifying gap below three seconds.

If the team cannot make meaningful progress towards that benchmark, questions about its structure and personnel will inevitably follow.

We’ll be watching. 🙂🏎️

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Tomorrow, best. 🏎️