Hard Tyres

[f1italia]

Why do they start out on the softs if the fuel weighs down the car? I would think they would start with the hard tyres to handle the load better.

[WhiteBlue]

The softer option tyres usually give better track position in qualifying and track position is the more important thing to have. If the drivers were free to select the tyre they want to start with you would see them start on the prime more often but they need to run the set they qualified on.

[Lurk]

It applies only for Q3 drivers.
The others can choose their tyres and commonly start race with the hard ones.

[Edis]

It applies only for Q3 drivers.
The others can choose their tyres and commonly start race with the hard ones.

The soft tire is faster, so you will have a better chance taking a few places in the start of a race using them.

Using the prime allow you to go almost to the end of the race, but if your starting position is bad you risk losing a lot of time behind other cars until they pit, and when you pit you will lose track position. Of course, having new soft tires at the end of the race can be worth a few positions.

[marcush.]

With Webber going almost the whole distance on the softs/options you can see soft is a relative description there..I think you need a really hot ambient temp situation to make full use of the start on prime option.

I would think not all drivers in Q3 have no choice...as is the case when you have shot all your softs to get into Q3 and you will not be able to repeat or better your time the option to switch to prime tyres is an interesting one.

As we have seen already a last laps dash can bring you forward very quickly ,even if your car is not the quickest...
The prime tyre will take abuse much better with a full load of fuel ,and the first laps are usually not so quick ....so if you are a good starter I think the prime tyre will work just as good as the options .
But it toook a lot of teams long time to even allow themselves this tactic .

Kobayashi /Sauber and Barrichello /williams good examples ,delarosa was on this strategy as well but he made contact before it could work for him.

[G37Sam]

Better qualifying times when the cars are light and a better launch off the line during the race itself

[marcush.]

if you get into Q3 and stand no chance to improve more than to P9 it is quite open to you to use prime or option...
the take off ...I´´m not convinced that forward traction is limited significantly by the difference in tire grip option /prime..with all the var
iables in place :clean dirty side of the grid,traffic patterns evolving ,driver predicting their paths and commitment7judgement are far more important than available grip:

look at Vettel,or Webber they constantly should have the lightest car (fuel efficient Renault engine )they have magnificient traction compared to everyone else..and still don´t have it easy to translate their qualy position into the race

[godlameroso]

Has anyone ever used a device to simulate what tires would go through in a race?

I don't know if it's possible to make a device that would spin the tire and apply all the necessary loads without having to actually be placed on a race car. If someone could invent a machine that could simulate tire loads then you could probably get more precise data. Hell you could probably get a lot more than just data.

How would you even go about building such a machine?

I mean the technology is there, I'm sure, like the way we have engine dynomometers that can simulate what an engine goes through in a race. I'm just puzzled as to how you would do it with a tire?

[ubrben]

I mean the technology is there, I'm sure, like the way we have engine dynomometers that can simulate what an engine goes through in a race. I'm just puzzled as to how you would do it with a tire?

The technology isn't there - simple as that.

No test machine can simulate the track surface or the precise load variation due to the dampers, etc. The expense required to get even remotely close is vastly more than track testing.

Ben

[747heavy]

@godlameroso

What Ben says is true/correct, but if you are interested to see what tire companies do to test some parameters of their tires and collect some data,
have a look at the "what can teams do to resolve their tire issues" tread started by JET.
I posted some photos and some video´s of tire testing on rig´s.
You may find it interesting.

Have a nice day