Pirelli 2013 F1 tyre range

[Chad Stewarthill]

I never would have dreamt, even a couple of years ago, that I'd ever say this; but I'm getting tired (pun intended) of Formula 1.

It's no longer the pinnacle of Motorsport (if it ever actually was). It's no longer even racing; in fact it's more like the episode of Top Gear when Clarkson had to try and get from London to Edinburgh and back on one tank of fuel; lifting & coasting, driving like a 70 year old with a trilby, no air con, no radio, no enjoyment, etc. etc.

In fact Jeremy, here's an idea for your next challenge; try and get from London to Watford and back on one set of Pirelli tyres.

 

[teabagyokel]

jez101 sushifiesta - Doesn't tyre wear typically have less of an effect from this point onwards?

 

[Il_leone]

Tyre management has always been a part of F1 except this time Pirelli got it wrong but they were the only ones willing to take up the new contract when Bridgestone left F1

Bridgestone had tyres which I remember race 1 2009 the soft tyres in Melbourne went to shot after 5 or 6 laps and the cars lost 3-4 seconds in an instant

the only time they had a problem like that again was when Vettel's tyres were stuffed at Monaco the same year.

Bridgestone's philosophy - The Science of Performance ... - durability and had tyres if it were not for the mandatory pit stops that could do 100 laps

Would people prefer to see that where 1 stop and it became a procession

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The only people moaning are those who are not winning and singing like Red Bull and Mercedes .. go and design a car gentler on tyres because both Ferrari and Lotus can do it


Yes Pirelli have got it wrong in excessive pit stops this time round but then races like Canada are a lottery because no one tests at the track
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Last season right the teams pretty much got on top of the tyres by the end season .. don;t tell me Adrian Newey aint cooking up some developed designs to be more gentle on the tyres back at MK or his home

 

[jez101]

jez101 sushifiesta - Doesn't tyre wear typically have less of an effect from this point onwards?

Certainly the worst three tracks for tyres are Barcelona, Sepang and Bahrain. Every year Barcelona has been where tyre complaints peak and every year by Monza, those complaints have vanished.

Monaco normally quietens things down as there has not been any history of tyre problems there but we haven't seen as many tyre failures in previous years so this year might be different.

 

[Bill Boddy]

There is indeed no testing at Montreal Il_leone but I do seem to remember the odd session at Barcelona.

 

[teabagyokel]

jez101 - Thanks. Maybe we'll thank Pirelli for taking the choice between over-eventful (?) races here and tyres they might not figure out by the dull autumn Asian run.

 

[Il_leone]

Bill Boddy Lotus and Ferrari seems to have used the test at Barcelona to good use with the tyres.. better than Red Bull

 

[Bill Boddy]

I think that Vettel was too complacent over the winter, he didn't go to the Pirelli factory.

 

[Il_leone]

Bill Boddy

His current car whatever he calls her does not like Pirelli tyres like his previous babes

 

[teabagyokel]

Yeah, have you seen the tyres' most frequent critics? Mateschitz, Horner, Newey, Webber...

 

[sushifiesta]

Red Bull must be the only ones with their heads screwed on then because the tyres are ****ing shit.

 

[Il_leone]

sushifiesta

Mercedes aint making noises about it except Lewis. because they know if they can sort it for race day they will be hellishly quick

The tyres are the same for each team they are not contracted to a team as preferred partner like Bridgestone was

If Lotus can deal with the tyres and be gentle on them then why can;t Newey - supposedly the best designer on the grid and Red Bull who have the biggest budget because they are not tied to the FOTA agreement

I am sure no one will complain about the tyres at Monaco next race

 

[sushifiesta]

I don't understand why Red Bull get so much stick for moaning about it - they're leading both championships! I bet they'd get criticism if they came out and said the tyres are fine as well!

I don't care which teams are or aren't using the tyres well, they're too extreme. At pretty much every race this season we have heard some team radio telling a driver not to fight or to take it gently. That's just not right, I want to see the drivers push, attack and defend without constantly tiptoeing around. Spain might as well have been a time trial, there was no need for them all to be on track at the same time because it wouldn't have made a difference to the result.

To be fair Bahrain was a good race, so I guess there's hope, but many more races like Spain and my interest in F1 is going to take a serious hit.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Sneak preview of the new pirelli's

The yellow ones are the soft compound..

 

[jez101]

For all the complaints about the tyres, we should bear in mind that Raikkonen's three stop used 3 sets of options which had been used in qually, plus 20 laps at the end on new hards.

In other words, he got an average of 18 laps per set of mediums.

If they can do that, why can't the others? You would have to say, any changes would be extremely rough on Lotus.

 

[Lewywo4]

4 pit stops during a race are just to hard for a large number of fans to follow, and have any idea what the is going on.

Martin Brundle expresses it well, the serious problems that these current tires have brought to F1 this year.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1...their-tyres-after-a-race-bordering-on-a-farce

 

[jez101]

So, why are Lotus not affected?

 

[Bill Boddy]

Because their design is different from the Red Bull one? Just in what way we do not know, but there are several teams who would like to.

 

[Fenderman]

I wonder if the teams who have been searching for ever more downforce and aero efficiency have not been paying enough attention to finding better tractability in the areas of power delivery and suspension. The three teams that appear to have achieved more downforce seem to be the ones worst affected by the tyre issues. The slower midfield cars seem to have done very well on the Pirelli's. Is that just coincidence? It will be interesting to see if there is even more disparity on the bumpier circuits like Monaco and Canada. The McLarens will be the ones to watch with their particularly stiff set-ups. If there is any water in this theory those two circuits will see poorer performance from the tyres of Button and Perez.

 

[Il_leone]

Fenderman

That is an interesting deduction but I do agree running more downforce chews the tyres quickly