Pirelli previews Chinese Grand Prix

Less than 72 hours after concluding the Malaysian Grand Prix, Pirelli was in China, beginning preparations for round three of the 2011 Formula One World Championship. As was the case in Australia, the teams will have an extra set of hard compound tyres for use during Friday’s first free practice session only. The allocation for the rest of the weekend is unaffected. The manufacturer says the surface and weather in China is generally less aggressive than Malaysia, with conditions more similar to Australia. This means that there should be 30 per cent less tyre wear and fewer pit stops than seen at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which provided a thrilling battle from start to finish.

The hard and soft PZero tyres are nominated for the Chinese Grand Prix, with the aim of seeing at least two pit stops per car, in line with Pirelli’s philosophy of promoting overtaking both on the track and in the pits. Pirelli says the Shanghai International Circuit is characterised by rapid straights and very long corners, providing a tough test for the tyres.

The track is 5.451 kilometres long with a race length of 305.066 kilometres after 56 laps on a smooth surface. The first corner tightens, putting all the strain on the front-left tyre: which will be cold at the beginning of the race. As this corner sharpens, aerodynamic grip decreases and the emphasis switches to mechanical grip. Leaving the opening complex the drivers change up rapidly through the gears, reaching 280 kilometres per hour in a breath-taking sweep up to the top of the circuit. Turn 13 is the most challenging corner of the lap, where the left-rear tyre is subjected to a lateral acceleration that triples the normal load on the carcass. This is accentuated by the camber of the circuit, which suffers from subsidence in certain places.

At the end of the straight the drivers brake hard into a tight right-hand hairpin (turn 14) that is taken in first gear, scrubbing off the top speed produced by more than 830 horsepower in less than three seconds. It’s then up to the tyre compound to provide maximum grip to reduce wheelspin throughout the final crucial complex of corners that leads to the start-finish straight.

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