British Grand Prix a “second home race” for F1 supplier Pirelli

Pirelli returns to Formula One in the United Kingdom this week for what the company says is a second home Grand Prix this season, after the Italian Grand Prix, since the company employs around 50 at its logistics and distribution facility at Didcot, 45 minutes from Silverstone by car. The 12 engineers assigned to F1’s teams and the 19 tyre fitters whose job it is to put the tyres on the rims are based there too, alongside its 12 carbon black trucks: two service trucks, seven tyre transporters, and three trucks for the hospitality unit.

As Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery points out: “It was important for us to have a base in the United Kingdom, as eight of the 12 Formula One teams are there and this enables us to provide them with the most prompt and efficient service. We also wanted to establish a centre of competence in Britain, in order to benefit from the know-how in this country and attract some of the best engineers and other personnel, who are used to working in England.”
 
Nonetheless it is an international community: there are eight nationalities represented among the people who work at Didcot, speaking a total of 10 different languages. Pirelli looked at more than 50 potential sites within the UK at the start of the year before settling on Didcot in Oxfordshire, which it says contained the right combination of indoor and outdoor space, together with convenient transport links by road and air.
 
Pirelli’s 50,000 Formula One tyres are produced at Izmit in Turkey and then transported by road to Didcot one to two weeks before each European race. At Didcot, the bar codes are confirmed and the tyres are allocated to each team, following the random assignation of the codes by the FIA, the sport’s governing body. Following each race, the used tyres are taken back to Didcot as well for recycling at a specialised plant nearby. The facility also deals with GP2 and GP3 race tyres, as well as non-race tyres that the teams require on a regular basis, such as wind tunnel tyres, show tyres and test rig tyres.

Silverstone sees PZero Silver and Yellow compounds

Pirelli notes that the British track has a slightly new look to it, with several parts of the circuit re-surfaced and a brand new pit and paddock complex, following on from the major modifications that were made to the layout last year. The fundamental characteristics of Silverstone remain unaltered though, with a fast and flowing lap that tends to rely on aerodynamic more than mechanical grip.

Pirelli has nominated the PZero Silver hard tyre as the prime and PZero Yellow soft tyre as the option; the most commonly-used combination this year, and one that has led to some thrilling races over the eight rounds held so far (the opening five of which used the hard-soft nomination).

Having been first held in 1948, the most recent work on the British track now means that its length has been extended to 5.891km, making it the longest lap of the season to date and the second-longest lap of the year, second only to Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps. Together with the sustained high speeds and notoriously unpredictable British weather, this makes the 52-lap race, where three to four pit stops are a possibility, extremely challenging for the tyres as well as drivers, Pirelli says. During Friday’s free practice sessions, the teams will have two extra sets of the PZero White medium tyres at their disposal, in order to assess this tyre’s performance at a track that is well-known for its demands on the rubber.

Hembery continues: “Silverstone always produces some exciting races and there’s a fantastic atmosphere to the whole event, which is why they call it the ‘home of British motorsport’. Our tyre nomination for this race will give the teams the durability they need to cope with the demands of the circuit, thanks to the hard tyre, and also the speed with which they can demonstrate their pure performance, with the soft tyre. How they use that combination will of course be the basis of the strategy: the teams that feel they have a significant performance advantage might choose to do a series of sprints on the PZero Yellow soft tyre, whereas other teams could conclude that they might be better off staying out for longer on the PZero Silver hard tyre.

“The choice of strategy will naturally have an effect on qualifying as well as the race, so on Saturday we should already have a clear idea about what the teams are doing. Whichever tactic the teams choose, whether it’s multi-stopping or longer endurance runs, they should all end up fairly close together by the end of the race, which has been one of the most intriguing elements of Formula One so far this year. But of course it’s very hard to make accurate predictions, as Silverstone is one of the many circuits that we have never tested on. In Britain it can rain at any given moment too, which clearly throws all forms of strategy out of the window.”
 
Paul Di Resta, of the Force India F1 Team, says he is looking forward to his appearance in his home nation: “It will feel very special to come to Silverstone for my first British Grand Prix as a Formula One driver. It’s probably going to be my biggest race to date and I know it’s going to be a very busy weekend. I remember driving in free practice last year and the atmosphere was just incredible. The grandstands are always packed and the British crowd is so enthusiastic about Formula One.

“It’s a great lap and a place where you can really feel a Formula One car excel through the quick corners like Copse, Maggots and Becketts. And this year, with the new layout, there’s a high-speed end of the lap, so it will be interesting to see how the tyres hold on in qualifying. Any high-speed track is always demanding on the tyres because of the high cornering loads. So looking after the tyres is sure to be a key factor for the weekend and getting the strategy spot on will be critical. Getting a good understanding on the tyres over long stints will be a priority during free practice.”