Pirelli selects soft and supersoft F1 tyres for Hockenheim

Formula One heads to the German Grand Prix this weekend, a round that alternates each year between the Nürburgring and Hockenheim. This year, Hockenheim plays host, and Pirelli has selected its P Zero Yellow soft tyre and the P Zero Red supersoft for the event. Following the German Grand Prix the race teams will then head directly to Hungary, where the soft and medium tyres have been nominated.

The Yellow/Red combination earmarked for the weekend was last used in the Austrian Grand Prix, and Pirelli says that Hockenheim is similar to Austria in that weather conditions at the course in the upper Rhine valley can be unpredictable at this time of year, with a wide range of temperature variations possible.

“It’s a pleasure to go back to Hockenheim after two years away, but this increases the workload for ourselves and the teams as the only concrete F1 data we currently have is two years old – when the cars and the tyres were very different,” commented Pirelli’s motorsport director, Paul Hembery. “So we expect the Friday free practice sessions to be extremely important, as the teams use the time to assimilate as much relevant information as they can. We’ve never been to Hockenheim with the supersoft before, but now that we have collected more data on the compounds this year, we think it should be well-suited to the varying demands of Hockenheim, which used to be one of the fastest circuits in the world, before it was modified in 2002.” Hembery added that Pirelli should have a clearer idea of how many pit stops to expect by Friday afternoon.

Traction and braking are the two key aspects of Hockenheim, with the tyres subjected to deceleration forces of almost 5g. The slow stadium section, with lots of acceleration out of slow corners, means that the drivers have to be careful to avoid wheel spin, which will heat up the surface of the compound.

The supersoft tyre is a low working range compound, capable of achieving optimal performance even at a wide range of low temperatures. The soft tyre is a high working range compound, suitable for higher temperatures and more strenuous track conditions. At Hockenheim, an ample variety of weather is possible, with current indications suggesting sunshine and temperatures into the mid-30s.

The relatively low average temperatures and short corners make keeping the tyres within their ideal working range one of the biggest challenges at Hockenheim. This is essential to generate optimal grip on the smooth asphalt, which generally does not take a lot of energy out of the tyres. Turn 5, however, which is almost a straight line, puts a lot of energy on the right-hand side.

The winning strategy in 2012 was two stops, with the soft and medium tyres allocated. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso controlled the race from pole, only losing the lead during his pit stops, which he regained as the result of his strategy.