Pirelli’s softest F1 tyres to take on hotter challenge in Hungary

The tight and twisty Hungaroring on the outskirts of Budapest will offer an increased hot weather challenge to Pirelli’s soft and super soft tyres in the Hungarian Grand Prix. The circuit’s infrequent use makes the surface dusty and slippery that Pirelli expect will offer more grip as the weekend progresses and rubber is laid down. The slippery surface is the reason for the supplier’s choice of its PZero Yellow and PZero Red tyres, with 16 tight corners and a low average speed making the circuit better suited to the softer tyres. The high temperatures are likely to represent a conservation challenge, especially since this is the first time the supersoft Red compound will be used in very warm weather.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery says: “Hungary certainly couldn’t be more different to the races we have seen recently, as we found out when we went to the Hungaroring for our first season of the GP3 series last year. However, as the GP3 tyres are completely different to those we race in Formula One, there’s not much that we learned apart from an initial idea of what to expect: high temperatures and a slippery track surface.

“The big challenge for the teams and drivers is going to be keeping tyre wear under control in the warm conditions, but we have used the PZero Yellow soft tyre in warm weather before and it has shown good performance. The supersoft tyre is almost certain to result in some quick qualifying laps but obviously it doesn’t have the same resistance to wear. How the teams juggle the parameters of speed and durability will once again form the key to their different strategies. There has been plenty of drama at the Hungaroring in the past and with so many new elements to the racing this year, I hope we’re in for another exciting Grand Prix. ”

Lotus Renault GP driver Vitaly Petrov comments that long driving stints will be important in achieving the best possible result: “One of our biggest challenges so far this season has been to get up to speed with the tyres straight away in free practice, so that we are well prepared for qualifying. This will be even more important than usual in Hungary, where it is easy to have understeer but quite difficult to overtake. We will also need to understand how long we are able to run on the supersoft, which is going to be a crucial part of the strategy for everyone. So far the Pirelli tyres have been fun to drive and the performance has been good when we get the best out of them – like when I was on the podium in Australia at the start of the year – but in general I think we need to find a bit more consistency.”

Pirelli notes that the Hungaroring requires a high-downforce set-up, as the cars are on full throttle for only around 10 seconds over the course of the 4.381-kilometre lap. Soft suspension settings at the rear help to optimise the mechanical grip and traction out of all the corners, but this can cause excessive loading on the rear tyres. The tyre supplier has announced that for this race, there will be no allocation of extra tyres for free practice, leaving teams with their normal 11 sets of tyres for the weekend.

Related news:

• “Exactly what we were aiming for” – Hembery at German GP
• Pirelli bringing PZero White and Yellow to Nürburgring