PWP: The Strategist seeks Stateside success

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us, and someone who knows that all too well is our secretive Grove guru, ‘The Strategist’.

Over the past few rounds, they have made quite a charge back up the standings, currently finding themselves in P48 with 285 points.

There’s still so much to play for on Pit Wall Predictions, presented by Gulf! Six players share the lead on 325 points, with 26 fans within a perfect score of P1.

Read on for The Strategist’s tips and insights to help you make your picks for the 2023 United States GP.

Lap 11-20. It is in this window that the majority of drivers made their first stops last year, and if we have some clean opening exchanges, I expect it to be the same this year.

Lap 11-20. I predict Logan will come into the box during the same window as Alex. It has been the case more often than not this season that our pair pit within a few laps of each other, so I’m locking in the second bracket.

Alex. Logan may have stopped first last time out, but I’m not expecting that to be the case this time around. I feel we’ll see Alex pit first as he has done more often in 2023.

5+. I predict we’ll see some attrition at COTA. Last year our duo made two stops each, but I feel that if there’s a well-timed Safety Car, we might be able to bring in at least one of our pair for some fresher tyres.

Zero. There have been five VSC periods at COTA since its 2015 introduction, the last of which came in 2021. I don’t think it will make an appearance this weekend.

One. 2022 saw two periods under the SC, but this was an incredible anomaly – there had been no full Safety Car periods at US GP in the seven previous years. I reckon we’ll get just the one this time around.

Medium. Alex ended on Hards here in Austin last season and was sitting in the lower reaches of the points-paying positions in the closing stages. But, with older rubber than those around him, he slid down to P13. This year, I feel he’ll end on the Mediums instead.

Medium. For the same reasons as above, ending the race here at COTA on hards isn’t and easy task. Three of the top four finishers last year ran a Medium-Hard-Medium strategy, giving them some extra pace in the closing stages.