Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, one of the recurring themes of the weekend was graining. Graining happens when the tyres are stressed before reaching their optimal operating window, or when ambient temperatures are too low to allow the tyres to work correctly.
Except at Mercedes, the exact opposite was happening: no graining, but rather, blistering. It was an anomaly, rarely discussed since racing started in Saudi Arabia, because the excellent asphalt in Jeddah has always provided a lot of grip, pushing the focus toward the graining issue.
