Pirelli’s motorsport director has described the absence of a tyre supply contract for next year’s Formula One championship as a “most bizarre situation.” The company’s three-year contract ends at the end of the current season and as a new deal has not been struck it must go ahead with plans for next year without any guarantee that it’ll be selected as tyre supplier.
A third tyre has been added to Pirelli’s trailer and semi-trailer line-up. The new ST:01 Base joins the ST:01 Neverending and Formula Trailer to round out the Italian tyre maker’s range for this market; with the commercial launch of the ST:01 Base in July, Pirelli says its trailer and semi-trailer portfolio now covers “every need from every haulier” and caters to varied priorities, including mileage and retreadability, low rolling resistance or durability – Pirelli says it now offers an answer to each of these.
Information released by Pirelli indicates that its new commercial vehicle second brand, Formula, will be released in steer, drive and trailer fitments; the initial line-up includes five steer sizes, five drive sizes and three trailer sizes. At present, European label ratings are only available for two steer and two drive sizes; the 295/80 R 22.5 and 315/80 R 22.5 steer tyres both achieved a ‘B’ rating for wet grip, ‘C’ for rolling resistance and 72dB external noise. The size 295/80 R 22.5 and 315/80 R 22.5 drive tyres were both rated as ‘B’ for wet grip, ‘D’ for rolling resistance and 74dB for external noise. The other nine sizes are ‘in preparation’.
Italian tyre maker Pirelli intends to introduce a second brand of commercial vehicle tyres that takes its name, if not its heritage, from the company’s F1 involvement. At a recent dealer meeting in Munich, Germany, Pirelli presented examples of an associated tyre brand; this new, yet to be released range is called ‘Formula’, and the Pirelli says its introduction will complete the company’s heavy vehicle product range. Further details about the Formula brand are yet to be made public.
Bridgestone Australia has provided its Ferrari F2004 Formula One show car to the country’s National Motor Museum on a long-term loan. The car, an exact replica of the racer that won 15 out of 18 races in the 2004 Formula One season and scored 12 pole positions at the hands of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, was officially unveiled at the Adelaide-based museum on 12 December.
According to Pirelli, during the 2012 Formula One season the tyre maker supplied teams with a total of 31,800 race tyres (22,500 dry tyres and 9,300 wet tyres) plus an additional 6,600 tyres for testing. A quarter of all tyres delivered were soft compound, while medium proved the second most popular fitment and accounted for 21 per cent of all tyres. Intermediate tyres accounted for a further 18 per cent, while hard, wet and supersoft supplies were 17 per cent, 11 per cent and six per cent respectively. Two per cent of all tyres supplied were development tyres. The average lifespan of dry compound tyres this season was 180 kilometres, while wet compound tyres lasted 140 kilometres on average.
The first taste of Pirelli’s 2013 tyres for teams came during free practice in Brazil, with the Italian firm bringing two extra sets of prototype tyres in addition to the usual allocation. The teams used the 2013 prototype tyres, which were distinguished by orange writing on the sidewalls, in the morning session. The prototype tyres seen in Brazil have a different structure compared to the 2012 tyres, using the current hard compound, but with a quicker warm-up time as well as deliberately faster degradation.
South Korean tyre maker Hankook will serve as tyre supplier to next year’s FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
McLaren Electronic Systems Limited has announced that it will provide the electric engine, transmission and electronics for cars that will participate in the FIA’s exciting new Formula E race series.
McLaren will be a key partner of Spark Racing Technology, which is led by Frédéric Vasseur and is dedicated to the creation and assembly of the electric cars participating in the FIA World Championship Formula E.
Lotus GP2 driver Esteban Gutierrez has won the inaugural Pirelli Trophy for tyre management, which was presented to him by Pirelli's racing manager Mario Isola at the GP2 prize-giving ceremony in Paris recently.
Gutierrez, who also won the 2010 GP3 title – the first year that Pirelli returned to single-seater racing – was judged to have used his tyres in the best way all year by a panel of 50 international Formula One and GP2 journalists, who were tasked with voting for a winner.
At 2012’s final meeting, Lincolnshire’s Jack Harvey became the first British winner of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 Championship since Mike Conway in 2006. Harvey took two victories from pole at Donington Park’s season finale. The Carlin racing driver arrived at the Derby venue on the back foot after a disappointing weekend at Silverstone in early September, when he picked up three penalties. Entering the final rounds of the championship, Harvey trailed team-mate and erstwhile championship leader, Jazeman Jaafar, by six points.
Luca Negri has been appointed Pirelli’s new industrial director for the UK. He takes over from Paolo Battistini, who will return to Pirelli’s Milan office to work in the Company’s Industrial business unit. Negri will be based at the tyre maker’s Carlisle site.
The winners of a silent auction enjoyed a trip to the Formula One in Monza last weekend where the prize winners received paddock passes and hospitality courtesy of Italian tyre firm Pirelli. The auction was held in July at Evolution in Battersea as part of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity’s annual Formula One party. Pirelli donated two paddock passes to the individual who placed the highest bid on the night.
On 23 August Polish chemical manufacturer Synthos SA informed the Warsaw Stock Exchange it has signed a supply deal with Goodyear Tire & Rubber. The agreement is valid until 31 December 2012 and covers the supply of solution styrene butadiene rubber and emulsion styrene butadiene rubber. The contract is valued at approximately PLN 3.74 billion (£709 million); the price to be paid is based upon a formula that takes into account the market price of raw materials.
Last week Pirelli’s motorsport director again spoke out against the possibility of Formula One returning to a multiple tyre supplier championship. Paul Hembery commented to Autosport.com that a so-called tyre war would not make sense, as in his opinion it would make the racing less exciting and could adversely affect audience numbers.
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