Pirelli 2013 F1 tyre range

[KekeTheKing]

Testing regulations have changed but very little since 2009

But the cars certainly have, and the old Renault that Kubica used to drive was no longer up to the task.

There were NO similar failures among the GP2 cars that raced on Silverstone

Which points to a usage problem in F1, as they're running the same tires.

Properly affixed, properly inflated Pirelli's may degrade rapidly, but they've never been unsafe.

 

[Blog Zbod]

The Top Gear TV show have picked up on Boris Becker's Twitter remark. This week (first show filmed after the GP of GB), in introducing The Stig, Jezza Clarkson says The Stig bought Pirelli condoms, and now has 17 children.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Lotus will be happy to hear that Pirelli has changed course once again and will be bringing the Soft and Medium compounds to Hungary.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23254282

 

[Blog Zbod]

Nico Rosberg was quoted saying his engineers told him the clag he'd collected in his front wing before the safety car period at Singapore was costing him 1.6 seconds per lap. So maybe Vettel's disappearing act after the track went green wasn't so miraculous after all.

The voluminous clag not only further narrows the racing line, it also advantages the driver who spends the most time running in clean air. Remind me again how that is supposed to benefit overtaking?


Andrew Benson, writing for the Beeb: "...F1 people - drivers, engineers and team bosses alike - have grown tired this season of Pirelli blaming outside causes for their tyres failures, when everyone knows the fundamental problem is the tyres themselves. Many believe they are not of a standard suitable for F1...."

Indeed.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I don't think that Horner is too displeased with the current tyres.

 

[Fenderman]

Hmm, disregarding the burnt out wreck they're shipping back to the factory, it won't have escaped his attention that a storming drive by one of his drivers was already destroyed by one of his opponents suffering explosive tyre delamination.

If Horner (or for that matter any other team manager) doesn't have some concern in the back of his mind he would be being negligent. We cannot predict precisely what the consequences will be, and for whom, even if the tyres that blow are not on ones' own car. But in general terms we know that in the heat of battle, wheel to wheel, our driver can be caught up in mayhem. Right now the gods are shining on the soon to be 4xWDC but who knows ...

 

[GeoffP]

I am increasingly wondering how much these tyres are restricting the racing.

If you cast your mind back a couple of seasons the on camera action would have been full of drivers crawling over the back of their opponents until "something" happened. OK, a lot of the time that was a pit stop, but when together there was genuine action.

This season, if you drive within 1.5 seconds of the car in front then you have no tread after 5 laps, therefore genuine combat is short and planned around stints. The first message you get from a driver as they close with a competitor is to understand the car in front's pit status so they know whether to cruise around for a lap or two, or try to pass for a couple of corners whilst shortening their stint by a lap or two.

More overtaking - no, I think not, more passing, yes, but overtaking... spherical objects!

Better action on the track - depends how much you like safety cars, extra pit stops, a six foot wide strip along the racing line and life threatening crashes. In my opinion, Hell no!

Do I think racing pre Pirelli was perfect, no, but I do not think Pirelli, under the current rules, has improved anything. I would love to give the tyre manufacturer one year where they were given the remit "design and provide a set of tyres that will make the drivers get from the start line to the finish line as quick as possible" and see what happened, also FOTA gets to pick the tyres for each race.

If the tyres are a problem then, then Pirelli might as well give up, I think they'll blow our minds and the drivers will do the same.

 

[The Artist.....]

Hmm, so Pirelli are claiming that the lock up and subsequent flat spot on Perez's car is what caused the delamination.... I think much more likely is the possibility that the delamination had started before Perez locked up, and that was what caused the lock-up! Whilst I'm no great fan of Perez, this smacks of a tyre failure being once again blamed on a driver!

Degrading tyres are all well and good, but it seems to me that Pirelli's big problem is the construction of the tyres, not the degradation.

On an unrelated point, the tyre rules insist that tyres must be of a single compound. I wonder how easy/ difficult it would be for a tyre manufacturer to make a tyre with a compound gradient- so that the top layer of rubber is soft, and gives very good grip, but as it gets worn down, the rubber gets harder and harder, to give less grip, but more durability? This would have the same sort of effect as the current era of tyres, but might be a safer way of doing it!

 

[The Pits]

Haven't most if not all the teams signed up to Pirelli supplying tyres for the next few years?

If they were that concerned surely this would not be the case?

 

[Kewee]

The Pits ....... The design brief for next season will be very different than it was this year. The teams trust that the changes will be effective and safe. There has been a limit to how effective any mid-season changes could be this current year. Hopefully the season can be completed without anyone being hurt.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

GeoffP - Hallelujah! Someone has finally put succinctly what I've been feeling for ages.

 

[The Pits]

The Pits ....... The design brief for next season will be very different than it was this year. The teams trust that the changes will be effective and safe. There has been a limit to how effective any mid-season changes could be this current year. Hopefully the season can be completed without anyone being hurt.

Maybe, I have seen nothing in the press relating to this, more an allusion by various parties that there will need to be changes based on the new regs. It will still be the same people designing and manufacturing the tyres, and if people believe that both the old (2012 and current) construction and the version used early this season were dangerous, is there really any reason to believe that next year will be anything other? unless the design brief is changed, I can foresee more issues.

 

[Kewee]

The Pits ..... Sorry I wasn't intending to mislead. Your right there has been nothing in the press, I just believe the FIA won't be pig headed enough not to recognize the tyre rules aren't working and make changes. Maybe I'm being naive. I'm sure most would agree Pirelli have been manufacturing superb tyres for most forms of motorsport, including F1 for the entire life of their company, and are very capable of producing very safe tyres if the FIA give them a decent brief. I also don't believe Pirelli would have continued with their F1 contract if they hadn't been provided with a brief that would not enable them to produce safe tyres. They will be very aware of how damaging this last season has been to their reputation and won't allow the same to occur in 2014.

 

[Blog Zbod]

Adrian Newey confirms a remark I had made some months ago regarding why some teams got on better with the disinte-Pirellis in the early season:

He says the teams that were crowing about what an ace job they had done designing their cars to the 2013 Pirellis just got lucky.