Tyres “stand up well” to heat at Pirelli’s first home race

Pirelli’s home race in Monza was run in high temperatures, presenting a good test for the company’s rubber following the blistering experienced at Spa. Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “Our first home race in the very special surroundings of Monza was everything that we hoped it would be, and the fact that there are five world champions in the top five just underlines the quality of the action.

“We experienced a very hot Monza weekend but despite these high temperatures and the sheer energy that the track puts through the carcasses, both the soft and the medium tyres stood up extremely well to this massive test, with no blistering beyond the usual parameters and very good durability. It meant that none of the drivers had to hold back and we saw some great entertainment all the way down the field from start to finish. We’re now looking forward to our very first night race at Singapore, which the heat here has prepared us well for, where we will see the return of our P Zero Red supersoft tyres.”

Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel won the race, bringing the young German even closer to his second consecutive drivers’ title. He stopped twice en route to a commanding win, starting on the P Zero Yellow soft tyre that he used to set pole position yesterday, before pitting for a new set of softs on lap 20 and finally changing to a set of the P Zero White medium tyres with 18 laps to go on lap 35, in a pit stop that lasted for just 2.9 seconds.
 
A two-stop strategy was the most popular choice, with only the Sauber of Sergio Perez planning a one-stop race – the Mexican was denied a likely points finish by a mechanical problem just after half-distance.
 
The hard tyres were used to great effect by Lewis Hamilton, who set the fastest lap of the race: 1:26:187, while his teammate Jenson Button fought his way past Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso – who led into the first corner after a great start – on the P Zero White tyres.