Pirelli, like Michelin and Bridgestone before them, came into F1 with the hope that it would help them sell more tires. Their reputation as a performance tire manufacturer lagged Michelin and Bridgestone, and despite buying OEM fitments, many believed that tires such as the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 and Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position offered better performance, durability and consistency (the three criteria tire buyers care about, with performance having many sub dimensions as well).
I am a believer that F1 sponsorship does influence purchasing behavior. I for example ran Bridgestone tires on my BMWs for many years, my favorite tire being the Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position S-03.
A few years after Michelin's success in F1, I decided to try the Michelin Pilot Sport 2. I developed the perception that the extreme performance and durability they were delivering in F1 had to provide some learnings for their road tires, if not directly then at least through the acquisition of top tire engineering talent. Since 2009 I have been running their Pilot Super Sports - an amazing tire - leveraging their LeMans experience to deliver outstanding wet and dry performance, superior contact patch, and durability. Further they have a reputation for consistency which is unsurpassed among amateur track racing enthusiasts.
Now let's fast forward to today. Pirelli has been in this game for a few years. Would I try a Pirelli P Zero or a P Zero System over the Michelin Pilot Super Sports currently fitted to my BMW M5. The answer is no. It is partially no because the reviews suggest the tire is not as good. However I believe that underlying this, Pirelli hasn't leveraged it's F1 or other racing presences to push the bounds of durability, consistency and grip. They may have focused on the spectacle, but if you're making tires designed to fall apart to entertain audiences, then it's hard to argue you are learning things that transfer to your road tire program.
To me the weak performance of the P Zeros compared with their Michelin and Bridgestone counterparts is a function of the fact that Pirelli still has an inferior engineering team to Michelin, and it is clear that their F1 objectives will not contribute to solving this.
So I guess it's still Michelin vs. Bridgestone on the roads, regardless of what is happening in F1.
Thoughts?
I am a believer that F1 sponsorship does influence purchasing behavior. I for example ran Bridgestone tires on my BMWs for many years, my favorite tire being the Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position S-03.
A few years after Michelin's success in F1, I decided to try the Michelin Pilot Sport 2. I developed the perception that the extreme performance and durability they were delivering in F1 had to provide some learnings for their road tires, if not directly then at least through the acquisition of top tire engineering talent. Since 2009 I have been running their Pilot Super Sports - an amazing tire - leveraging their LeMans experience to deliver outstanding wet and dry performance, superior contact patch, and durability. Further they have a reputation for consistency which is unsurpassed among amateur track racing enthusiasts.
Now let's fast forward to today. Pirelli has been in this game for a few years. Would I try a Pirelli P Zero or a P Zero System over the Michelin Pilot Super Sports currently fitted to my BMW M5. The answer is no. It is partially no because the reviews suggest the tire is not as good. However I believe that underlying this, Pirelli hasn't leveraged it's F1 or other racing presences to push the bounds of durability, consistency and grip. They may have focused on the spectacle, but if you're making tires designed to fall apart to entertain audiences, then it's hard to argue you are learning things that transfer to your road tire program.
To me the weak performance of the P Zeros compared with their Michelin and Bridgestone counterparts is a function of the fact that Pirelli still has an inferior engineering team to Michelin, and it is clear that their F1 objectives will not contribute to solving this.
So I guess it's still Michelin vs. Bridgestone on the roads, regardless of what is happening in F1.
Thoughts?