Pirelli Returns to Single-Seater Racing at Spanish GP

Pirelli is to supply tyres for single-seater racing for the first time since 1991 in the new GP3 Series, which will support Formula One’s Spanish Grand Prix on 7-9 May. The Italian manufacturer says it will use the event to submit a tender to supply Formula One from next season. Pirelli will be the sole supplier for GP3, which the manufacturer says has been pitched as “a stepping-stone to GP2, a direct feeder category to Formula One”. The supply agreement is the most clear indication of Pirelli’s intentions for the Formula One tyre supply slot due to be vacated by Bridgestone at the end of the 2010 season.

Designed as a training formula for young and aspiring drivers, the GP3 series is made up of nine race weekends, each consisting of a practice and a qualifying session and two races in an effort to maximise track time for the drivers and accelerate their learning. Pirelli says it was chosen by the FIA to supply the control tyre for this series because of the company’s ability to contain costs while maintaining a high level of technology. 

Eight of the nine rounds support Formula One Grands Prix, starting at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend and ending with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza near Milan, where Pirelli houses its global headquarters. The calendar will give the drivers a chance to compete in a high-profile environment and demonstrate their skills to watching team managers from GP2 and Formula One. 

Pirelli has designed and developed a racing tyre specifically for the Dallara-built GP3 Series car. With a two-litre, turbocharged engine developed by Renault’s F1 arm putting out 280bhp, the tyre will be subjected to extreme stresses and strains throughout a race weekend. Pirelli says the lessons learned from the manufacture of its high performance road-going tyres have been incorporated into the new GP3 series tyre. 

Drivers are allocated three sets of dry weather tyres and two sets of wet weather tyres per event. Championship regulations prevent any modifications from being made to the tyres and their use is strictly policed by series officials to ensure a level playing field. The brief from GP3 Series bosses specified that each tyre should experience a degree of degradation to help the drivers’ education process but also to spice up the on-track action. 

A full grid of 30 drivers is set to contest the inaugural GP3 Series season-opener in Spain, while the teams that have registered for the championship include the MW Arden outfit, which is partly owned by Red Bull F1 driver Mark Webber. 

“We are delighted to be the official tyre supplier to the inaugural GP3 Series,” said Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery. “Pirelli has a long and proud association with single-seater racing at a variety of levels all the way up to Formula One and we very excited to be helping young drivers develop their skills at a crucial stage in their careers.” 

Hembery added: “As the official tyre supplier to the World Rally Championship, Pirelli is well versed in meeting the demands required by high-profile motorsport disciplines and providing an exceptional product and level of service. Our approach to the GP3 Series will be no different and this forms vital experience for us as we submit our tender for tyre supply to Formula One from next season onwards. Competition is in our company DNA, so we believe that a control tyre supply is by no means incompatible with an exciting sporting spectacle. But it’s also worth pointing out that our first sporting engagement this year with open tyre competition, the Monte Carlo Rally in January, resulted in a great victory for us. Pirelli is capable of rising to every challenge.” 

Pirelli recently announced its intention to tender for the Formula One tyre supply contract from 2011 onwards. The Italian firm’s last involvement in Formula One ended at the end of the 1991 season, following a victory for Nelson Piquet’s Benetton-Ford at the Canadian Grand Prix.

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