Race strategists are increasingly relying on live tire degradation models built from sensor data rather than watching lap times alone, catching performance drop-off several laps before it would show up clearly on a timing sheet.
The models combine tire surface temperature, track temperature and telemetry on how a driver is loading each corner to estimate remaining tire life — informing pit decisions earlier and, teams say, more accurately than experience-based calls.
"By the time you can see it in the lap times, you've usually already lost the strategic window to react to it." — Race strategist, motorsport team
Rival teams are racing to catch up on the modeling side, though several engineers note that the driver's own feedback on tire feel remains a check against the data that no model has fully replaced.
