Pirelli responds to F1 driver “concern over ‘tyre marbles’”

Formula One tyre supplier Pirelli has responded positively to concerns voiced by drivers Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov – among others – over “tyre marbles”, or crumbs of rubber left on track as a result of Pirelli’s desire to increase interest in racing through tyre degradation. Petrov claimed his ignominious exit at the Malaysian Grand Prix was caused by the rubber particles caused by increased tyre wear. Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery responded by maintaining that the “marbles” were a “natural consequence” of the manufacturer’s policy of providing tyres to help build racing excitement, but that it would seek ways of reducing the rubber left on track without undermining this principle. Pirelli is currently preparing for the Chinese Grand Prix, which begins tomorrow. A video interview with Hembery following the Malaysian Grand Prix is available in the subscribers area below.

Pirelli explains that the faster tyre wear compared to previous years can lead to strips of rubber being deposited on the track, which vary in size but are generally the shape and consistency of toffees, weighing between 10 and 20 grams on average. These strips are pliable when warm but become more rigid when they cool down, just like toffee. These rubber “marbles” have always existed in Formula One, but the characteristics of Pirelli’s new compounds mean that the pieces are on average larger and softer than the hard and round marbles that have been seen at Grands Prix in the past.

A Formula One tyre, which weighs approximately 8.5kg when new, will lose around a kilogramme and a half as it wears over the course of a stint. With an increased number of pit stops, more rubber will be laid down on the track. This phenomenon is not new in Formula One, but it is most pronounced at circuits where there is a high degree of tyre wear, like Malaysia. Pirelli says the marbles left on the circuit “pose no danger to competitors or spectators”.

Hembery’s statement reads: “We’re looking forward to another thrilling race in China, although we don’t want to disappoint anybody who says that we’ve made the races too exciting: it’s true that if you get up in the middle of the grand prix now, the chances are that you’ll miss something important! Once all the different strategies had played out, the last 10 laps in Sepang were absolutely thrilling – but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, or, in the case of Malaysia, rubber.

The rubber ‘marbles’ on the track are a natural consequence of the increased degradation that has led to more exciting races: all that rubber has to go somewhere, just as it has always done in the past. Having said that, we’re here to serve the teams’ best interests and we’re looking at ways of reducing some of the deposits in the future. But that’s not going to change our fundamental philosophy: we want to give racing back to the racers.”

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