Nico Rosberg’s “considered approach to tyre management over the course of the whole weekend” was the key to his victory in the Brazilian grand prix, according to Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hembery. His three-stop strategy, running one stint on the P Zero Yellow soft tyre followed by three remaining stints on the P Zero White […]
Pirelli has nominated its most popular combination of Formula One tyres, the P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft, for this year’s Brazilian grand prix. It is the ninth time this combination has been brought to a race weekend, and the short intense Interlagos lap will provide plenty of work for the tyres, and the drivers, to do. The track which proceeds in an unusual anti-clockwise direction, was relaid in 2014, changing its levels of abrasion, while the circuit also has a new pit complex. Pirelli expects a performance gap between the two compounds of around 0.9 seconds per lap.
Nico Rosberg won the first Mexican Grand Prix in 23 years from pole with a two-stop strategy. Using soft-medium-medium Pirelli tyres, he beat his teammate Lewis Hamilton to secure a 10th one-two of the season for Mercedes. Rosberg also moved back to second in the driver points standings. Behind them, race strategies were affected by a safety car with just 20 laps to go. This effectively allowed a ‘free’ pit stop, which meant that those contemplating another stop could do so without a big penalty.
Lewis Hamilton’s 2015 Formula One Drivers’ Championship victory was sealed through a tactical battle in difficult conditions at the United States Grand Prix. Races run in wet to dry conditions always provide a challenge for teams; all the drivers started on new intermediates, waiting for the right crossover point when the track would be dry enough to move onto slicks. Both Hamilton and his team mate Nico Rosberg, who finished second, completed one opening stint on the intermediates followed by two stints on the soft tyre.
Pirelli will supply its P Zero Yellow soft and White medium compound tyres as Formula One visits the “crucial market” of the USA on 23-25 October. Austin’s Circuit of the Americas is the tenth venue to have hosted a Formula One grand prix in the United States. The track is well known for its spectacular elevation changes of up to 40 metres, with an uphill run to the distinctive turn one, which is a hairpin bend and the signature corner. Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director said: “The United States always offers us a very warm welcome and a fantastic race weekend. Like all the other stakeholders in Formula One, America is a crucial market for us so it’s very important for us to have a race there.”
Although the name Mercedes isn’t mentioned even once, there’s no mistaking that a statement issued by Pirelli yesterday aims to finally put an end to the conspiracy theories circulating since last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Following the use of the two softest Pirelli Formula One tyres on Singapore’s Marina Bay street circuit, teams will work with the two hardest compounds – the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium – at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. The firmer compounds are considered a better match to the Suzuka circuit’s fast and demanding corners due to their ability to better cope with the heat build-up that results from the extremely high energy loads passing through the tyres.
With 9000 tyres transported by 21 trucks, and involving 90 Pirelli personnel on the ground as well as many more away from the circuit, Pirelli will face its biggest logistical engagement in motorsport this weekend at the Spa 24 Hours. The Blancpain GT Series highlight will see Pirelli fly in motorsport staff from Italy, expertise from countries as far afield as the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Australia – all territories where the manufacturer has a key presence in major GT or stock car championships. Pirelli is the exclusive supplier to the Blancpain series.
Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the British Grand Prix was inspired by an early pit stop to fit Pirelli’s Cinturato wet tyres, having conceded pole position to his Williams rivals at the start. Mercedes made the right strategy call a second time, when Hamilton was brought in for his second stop (for intermediates) just as proper rain hit the end of the grand prix.
It may be easy to forget amidst the excesses of top level motorsport, but the exclusive tyre supplier to Formula One is left with a less glamorous, but certainly vital, task in the wake of a race weekend. While F1 does not provide an immediately obvious ecological angle, perhaps the most important aspect comes in the disposal of used tyres.
It’s shaping up to be a warm weekend, and higher temperatures mean faster degradation for Formula One tyres. Therefore the two hardest tyre compounds – Pirelli’s P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium – have been selected for this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
An early safety car at the Austrian Grand Prix made one-stop the default strategy, though with a number of grid penalties in operation, many drivers were planning long stints from the start. Chief among these was Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who ran for 50 laps on his original set of P Zero Yellow soft tyres, ending up in the points after starting 18th on the grid, while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished fourth after completing 36 laps on the P Zero Red supersoft.
During the Monaco Grand Prix, both Pirelli and Michelin demonstrated prototype 18-inch tyres for single-seat race cars. The GP2 rubber that Pirelli showed off was developed in part to demonstrate the tyre maker’s ability to adapt to future changes in regulations, including a possible switch to a wider diameter, low profile tyre in Formula One. But although Pirelli is ready to offer the top-flight championship such as tyre, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery seems less than confident that the FIA will approve an 18-inch size for F1.
Last week’s Monaco Grand Prix delivered Nico Rosberg his third victory in a row at the track, and prior to the race the Circuit de Monaco was also host to 18-inch tyre demonstrations for two F1 feeder championships. Pirelli showed off its larger diameter race-ready GP2 rubber while Renault Sport Technologies fielded a Formula Renault 3.5 car fitted with 18-inch Michelin tyres. These demonstrations are significant given both tyre makers’ views on the direction F1 tyre evolution should take, a topic of particular interest now that tenders are open for F1 tyre supply between 2017 and 2019.
Prior to the start of yesterday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery expected teams to make three tyre change stops during the race. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel opted to stop only twice, and this may well have been the decisive factor in his 8.57 second victory over Lewis Hamilton. The Malaysian GP victory was the first win for Vettel and Ferrari since 2013, and this fourth victory in Malaysia – the 40th of his career – means that Vettel is now the most successful driver in the history of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
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