Tyre Technology Changing Racing

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Compounds used this week are one level softer than last week so there will be a significant drop in performance. Teams will be well advised to monitor the GP 2 practice sessions and race to get clear understanding of how this will effect them. In Hungary the soft tyre was the wrong choice and was only beneficial for the last 10 laps with drivers gaining more than a minute over rivals.

Pirelli supplies the tyres for the Formula One cars with a set instruction from the FIA to make the racing more interesting. The FIA doesn't want to see drivers stopping just once, but multiple times. Weather plays an important part as the hotter the track the faster the tyres degrade. The fastest soft tyre could be too big a gamble after what we saw last week.

The softer the compound the faster your times will be, but for a shorter period of time. Every tyre has it's benefits depending on what the tactics are. In the past we would see drivers drive through the drop off in performance window only for it to improve as the tyre became smoother and softer again. The compound used to change with the heat plus the wear and tear.

During practice today we saw the soft compound performing well for about half a lap and then performance was already being lost due to the track temperature. The lifespan of each type of tyre has become more and more crucial and teams cannot know until they can test the performance levels during the 3 practice sessions before the race. Teams will have one eye on track temperatures from now on as it could change the result of the race quite dramatically.

You can understand the FIA's thinking as if one driver came into the pits and changed onto a soft compound tyre they would lose roughly 20 seconds. That tyre will gain the 20 seconds lost over the next 6-8 laps before hitting the performance drop off wall and will need to be changed again. Someone who doesn't change and is on medium tyres would then roughly be at the same point when thy all pitted again.

Last weekend we saw teams gambling trying to get more laps out of the tyres throwing the Pirelli guide out of the window. The guide in the past wasn't that reliable as many teams proved that a tyre designed for 20 laps could make 30 or more still maintaining performance. This was only showing Pirelli's quality and not exactly what the FIA wanted. Safety is paramount along with performance and reliability.
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An extremely hot wheel rim was the reason for Kvyat's crash last week and not tyre failure.

Daniel Kvyat looked like he had a blowout last weekend forcing him to crash in to the barriers.This would have raised eyebrows with the Pirelli team as we saw a tyre come off during the crash. The Alpha Tauri team would have all the data which they would have handed over to Pirelli after the race along with the tyres used.

This week at the Pirelli laboratory in Italy that tyre was tested and examined with some interesting findings. This is important as finding out the reasons could save lives especially as it is at the same track this week. What they found was that the tyre rim was heating up to such an extent it melted the tyre beading that seals the tyre onto the rim.

When we have our tyres changed at a garage they stick the tyre onto the rim using that spinning machine. We then hear a loud popping sound as the air is then pumped into the tyre as the pressure forces the tyre beading onto the rim. Without that seal the tyre would just deflate and would come off which is exactly what happened causing the crash. The tyre didn't fail, but there was a mechanical fault on the Alpha Tauri car. The same thing could have happened again this week if this wasn't investigated thoroughly.

Pirelli as a supplier to Formula One has definitely benefited from the data accumulated regarding various compounds. In the years gone by we had Bridgestone and Pirelli supplying tyres and teams with a certain manufacturer would have a clear advantage depending on the track. Having one supplier has definitely made huge advancements in performance and safety.



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