ek1, maybe I should have been more specific with my comment, "1 hot lap." These are flying laps and I would doubt that they leave the pits on cold tires then try to go flat out. I would guess they run a moderate lap to get the tire temps up then go full race a few corners from the start/finish straight.

And sure, they got all the fresh tires they want for free from Kumho. From Bernie's comments, the track heat is too much for those tires. Not Kumho bashing on my part.