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Hamilton’s soft tyre preservation key in Hungarian victory

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton claimed a dominant victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, having been quickest during free practice and qualifying. Hamilton’s qualifying pace had allowed the driver to preserve a set of soft compound Pirelli P Zero Yellow tyres for racing on the Sunday; the McLaren built a lead in the first part of the race, before using the particularly narrow Hungaroring’s lack of overtaking opportunities to defend from the Lotus team in the rest of the race. Hamilton’s two-stop strategy was enough to claim victory by one second heading into the mid-season break. Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, leading the championship with great recent form finished fifth after qualifying sixth, thus increasing his lead of the drivers’ championship to 40 points, as his nearest rivals at Red Bull were only able to finish fourth (Sebastian Vettel) and eighth (Mark Webber). Nine races remain, with Alonso 40 points ahead of a chasing pack of four – Webber, Vettel, Hamilton and Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen.

30th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli tyre supplier for GT1 World Championship successor

Next year a new Sprint Series is set to replace the FIA GT1 World Championship, which is currently exclusively supplied by Pirelli along with the FIA GT3 European Championship. The new championship will be combined with the current Blancpain Endurance Series, with an overall title for both. The cars, calendars and tyre regulations will ensure that competitors can take part in both series, with a GT world title awarded to the overall winners. Pirelli reports it will supply tyres to the new championship next year on an exclusive basis.

30th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Hamilton fastest as rain follows Formula One to Hungary

Formula One’s stay in Hungary’s Hungaroring this weekend for the country’s Grand Prix has started as per previous weekends in the UK and Germany; with rain affecting free practice sessions. With the P Zero White medium tyre and P Zero Yellow soft tyres the nominated tyres, Pirelli saw the intermediate Cinturato Green tyres used more than had been hoped, though ambient temperatures of 29°C and 45°C track temperatures, the drivers used what dry running time they had on Friday to assess the performance and degradation levels on both tyres, using a variety of fuel loads. Pirelli says this information is more crucial than usual in Hungary, as it is very difficult to overtake on the tight and narrow track. There was also significant surface evolution on the underused circuit over the course of the day as more rubber was laid down.

27th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

TAFF Awards 2012: Industry Advertising Campaign nominations

The industry advertising campaign category is sponsored by Tyres & Accessories and is designed to demonstrate the depth, variety and ingenuity of tyre industry advertising – to both the trade and public – across all media (print, TV, Internet, social networks). Past winners have tended to be tyre manufacturers, but this year the tyre makers and importers have been joined by a retailer, in the shape of Kwik-Fit.

25th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Decision time: details of the 2012 TAFF Awards finalists

Since their introduction, the NTDA Tyre & Fast Fit (TAFF) Awards have become something of a tyre industry institution and the competition is always keen. After all, who wouldn't want the bragging rights of saying that you have been chosen as number one in your sector by your customers?

For those who don't know, the awards are made in a number of categories, in which five finalists have been selected, following nominations from NTDA members. The tyre industry then gets the chance to vote for a winner in each category, with voting forms published in the June, July and August issues of Tyres & Accessories, or you can cast your vote via the NTDA website.

23rd July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Alonso achieving Pirelli tyre consistency in third win

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso controlled the race from pole to win at Hockenheim’s German Grand Prix, securing a third victory this year, and beginning to suggest that he is the man most ready to tame the unpredictability of Formula One. Since the season began, seven different drivers have finished first; with half of the 20 scheduled Grands Prix completed, Alonso leads the only other multiple race winner, Red Bull’s Mark Webber, by 34 points – more than a race victory. Webber, victorious two weeks previously at the British Grand Prix, “just found himself slightly out of that sweet spot with these tyres” according to Red Bull boss Christian Horner. The team principal also suggested that the reduced time for dry running in practice had impeded Webber’s Hockenheim preparations. The Australian was 47 seconds off Alonso’s pace, finishing eighth.

23rd July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

New Pirelli F1 hard tyre debuts at Hockenheim

The introduction of Pirelli’s new P Zero Silver hard compound tyre, postponed last week after sodden practice sessions at Silverstone put paid to its planned debut, was finally completed today in between showers at Hockenheim’s German Grand Prix practice. Dry running in the morning allowed Formula One’s teams to gather very limited information about the experimental hard compound tyre, which was tested in free practice along with the usual allocation of 11 slick tyres for the weekend. A total of 34 sets of the new compound were used, including a longest run of 12 laps on Jean-Éric Vergne’s Toro Rosso.

20th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

FIA boss allegedly a F1 ’Michelin man’

Pirelli’s current Formula One tyre supply agreement expires at the end of 2013, and while the Italian manufacturer would gladly sign up for a further three years a new supplier is not out of the question. And there is at least one senior individual within the sport who would gladly see former supplier Michelin make a comeback.

19th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre war would bring ‘better tyres’ – Schumacher

Michael Schumacher has been one of the more vocal critics of Pirelli’s Formula One tyres this season, having described them in early May as akin to “driving on raw eggs.” During yesterday’s FOTA (Formula One Teams' Association) fans’ forum in Germany, Schumacher seized an opportunity to take another swipe at the Italian tyre maker.

19th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli hints at new hard tyre performance, testing at Hockenheim

While Pirelli will bring its P Zero White medium compound and P Zero Yellow soft compounds to the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on 20-22 July, much of the Formula One teams’ focus on the first practice day will be on the new specification P Zero Silver hard tyre that will make its debut following a washed-out session at Silverstone. Teams will have two sets of the new tyre on top of their usual allocation of 11 sets of the race’s nominated tyres. Pirelli’s test driver Lucas di Grassi anticipates that the tyre will offers “even better traction, particularly if temperatures are at the lower end of the scale.” The company’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said the tyre has been evolved from the current hard tyre to provide a “slightly wider” range of operating temperatures.

17th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Webber prevails in Silverstone tactical challenge

The British Grand Prix took place in dry weather against all the odds, though drenched practice and qualifying sessions – not to mention waterlogged car parks – made choosing a definitive tyre strategy impossible, since little information was available to teams about how their cars would use the available rubber. Red Bull’s tactics prevailed, with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel both achieving podium finishes, sandwiching Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who held onto his lead of the Drivers Championship with a second place earned only after an intense battle for supremacy with Webber. Webber is the second driver, after Alonso, to reach two Grand Prix victories this season.

9th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

F1 tyre decision could have backfired, says Pirelli’s Hembery

Pirelli’s supply to Formula One this year has not been without the occasional controversy – Michael Schumacher’s “raw eggs” comment being just one example – but there is no arguing that it’s raised the profile of tyres within the sport. Evidence of their prominent role was seen today by those thumbing through The Sun, who would have read the headline that the “real F1 heroes are…tyre boffins.”

6th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli talks labelling, Cyber Fleet at Reifen 2012

Pirelli unveiled its new Cinturato P7 Blue passenger car tyre on the first day of Reifen 2012 – an event that is significant as it is the first product to reach European markets with A ratings for both wet grip and rolling resistance. The tyre achieved the AA rating in size 235/45 R17, and is an evolution of the company’s Cinturato P7 product. Pirelli also demonstrated its Cyber Fleet truck sensors, currently trialling on a fleet of 13 HGVs, in real time. Responding to Tyres & Accessories’ questions, Pirelli representatives said that the P7 Blue achieves the improved characteristics over the base P7 model through use of a new compound and several subtle changes to the tread pattern, including “optimisation of the shoulder”. The base compound of the tyre, underneath the tread, was also credited for helping the P7 Blue attain it’s A ratings.

5th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli: No complaints on F1 tyre consistency

Pirelli Motorsport director Paul Hembery has told Spanish newspaper El Confidencial that rumours suggesting the company is supplying tyres of inconsistent quality to Formula One teams have not led to any official complaints being made. Hembery was responding to a suggestion that there are “serious differences” between tyres of the same compound made by Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko. Grands Prix have been surprisingly open to competition in the 2012 season, with seven different winners in eight races, and while Hembery takes credit for the tyres adding to the excitement of the racing, it is also clear that some of the top teams’ feathers have been ruffled by the more competitive championship.

4th July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli brings new hard compound to Silverstone

Formula One moves on from street circuit season to return to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix on 6-8 July. During Friday’s free practice, the teams will be able to test a new development hard P Zero compound, the first new compound to be tried during a race weekend in 2012. Teams will have two sets of the experimental hard tyre in addition to their usual allocation, before reverting to the standard P Zero Silver hard compound and P Zero Yellow soft compound for the rest of the race weekend. The Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue wet will almost certainly be used at some point during the weekend as Britain’s wet summer continues – indeed Pirelli has never experienced a completely dry race at Silverstone. The tyre supplier says the meeting can be considered a second home race, since its motorsport hub – a centre of excellence – is located in Didcot, Oxfordshire around an hour away.

2nd July 2012/by Tyrepress Editors