Pirelli 2013 F1 tyre range

[Chad Stewarthill]

Perhaps anything he says should be accompanied by as much sodium chloride as can be held between your finger and thumb.

I asked Pirelli to make tyres which would not complete 50% of a race - and that's what they did

Not quite, that's more or less what we had already...
Pirelli have made tyres this season which in some cases struggle to last five laps, and in other cases fall completely apart suddenly and catastrophically, risking a serious accident (which thankfully hasn't happened yet) but anyway causing damage to and retirement of the cars they were attached to.

 

[sushifiesta]

Josephiah The difference is that those gearboxes, engines, turbos etc. in days gone by were at the limit of the performance that could be achieved by the best components and the best engineers at the time. The Pirelli tyres are designed to be limiting the performance of the cars, not maximising it.

 

[Josephiah]

Well said sir.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Yes but they still had to be managed. My post ^ Number 283.

 

[snowy]

There is nothing wrong with drivers having to manage their tyres. But for the purposes of promoting strategy, drivers should be able to opt to not manage their tyres and be able to get a predictable outcome. As it stands few if any of the teams are able to predict how long the tyres will last if they try to conserve them or if they chose to run them into the ground.

 

[snowy]

Actually this change may help Merc out a little bit. With the tyre composition not being so quick to absorb higher levels of heat, the tyres may last a little longer for them...

It is very possible that the steel is the root of the unpredictable, unstable nature of the 2013 Pirelli. And we may well see the fortunes of the Mercedes and Red Bull improve. Here's hoping... I want to see Fernando, Kimi, Sebastian, Lewis and Nico going at it hammer and tongs for the rest of the season.

 

[snowy]

I nearly said thongs!

 

[Mephistopheles]

Not bloody Flavio again.....

 

[teabagyokel]

I've heard a lot about the tyres being unpredictable over the last three years, snowy, and I'm not sure I buy it. They've tended to follow a predictable pattern of degradation for all of the cars, with the differences being firstly how the car/driver treats them and secondly how abrasive the circuit is.

That some teams have entirely failed to predict them doesn't necessarily mean they're unpredictable, just that some teams don't seem as good at interpreting the data as Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus, whose tyre strategies tend to be impeccable even if their tyre use (in RBR's case) is not.

 

[Westy]

This is Jim Bamber's latest tongue in cheek cartoon on the subject. i agree with him, how can we point all of the blame at Pirelli for creating the tire that they were asked to make.

Is the tire wear too extreme? Yes. Does the rubber lead to processional racing? No. That is what some were asking for a few years ago. I guess we should be careful what we ask for.

 

[The Pits]

The other point would be Pirelli's acknowledgement that the last race was too much. The target they were provided, as far as I am aware, was to create races of 2-3 pit stops, which they have mostly achieved. It would also be worth noting that they have made overtures to other improvements, such as extra tyres during qualifying which was rejected.

The rules about starting on the tyres you set your qualifying lap is possibly the one which creates the biggest issues. Especially if you bear in mind there were some 3 stoppers in Barcelona.

So, personally, I think Pirelli are doing the job they have been asked to do very well, and are working out for themselves when they are not succeeding at it.

 

[Jen]

Didn't we usually have 2-3 pit stops?

 

[The Pits]

Bridgestone days it was mostly one, with the occasional 2 stopper, until Canada 2010, when they went Mental.

 

[Bill Boddy]

This morning in FP1 Rosberg did most laps, 31, the lowest number was Sutil, 20. The other drivers mostly did in the upper 20s. The only driver that I heard had changed tyres was Van de garde who had flat spotted his.

If that is anything to go on the race should be a 2 stopper.

 

[Brogan]

Force India appear to be questioning whether the proposed changes are legal: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107591

 

[teabagyokel]

If you aim for a 2-3 stopper in general, there will be a 3-4 stopper in Barcelona. And Sepang.

 

[jez101]

Today, Rosberg did his fastest lap of his race sim on the 22nd lap. Webbers sim might even suggest he was testing a one stop. It won't be 4 or even 3 I suspect here...

 

[Mephistopheles]

This seems to smack of the changes Pirelli wanting to make to the tyres are going ahead for Canada and not just on the safety issue. because if it were just on safety they wouldn't be seeking the agreement from all 11 teams.

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1...re-changes-but-still-uncertain-over-F1-future

 

[The Artist.....]

Mephistopheles

If Pirelli try to make changes for Montreal without the agreement of all of the other teams, I foresee a whole shit-storm of litigation! Why? Well Paul Hembery explicitly said after the last race that the changes weren't for safety reasons; and that no changes needed to be made for safety reasons... As such, any change is a change outside of the rules!

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

I do feel sorry for Pirelli tbh.

They stuck in the middle really, they risk off one set of people just to suit the others or they stay with the same tyres to suit those currently doing well with them and off the others.

Also Pirelli were asked to make tyres that would make the racing more excitable. If they had their way they'd have made tyres to suit all really.