Pirelli Strategy 2011

[myurr]

We haven't even had a race yet, why not at least give them a shot. It can't be worse than last year with the ridiculous durability of the tyres leading to some very dull individual races. Tyre conservation will only be a factor if one team can make one fewer pitstops than the rest of their contemporaries - if they can do that and still have comparatively good pace then well done them! Same as it's ever been, build a car that manages to be quick and kind to the tyres and you will have a good shot at winning.

The alternative would be to build a tyre that could last the whole race so that no one has to pit and no one gets a car advantage from tyre wear. Last year we were only one step away with there being several races where cars were only stopping because of the compulsory stop. Didn't seem so exciting to me.

[Jersey Tom]

Out of interest why does the tyre need to be grippier in the first place? Does it matter if it's the same pace as the Bridgestones or a second a lap slower?

"Grip" is still needed to maintain drive-ability, though grip and tread compound are only a small piece of the puzzle. Can have a high grip tire that drives like crap.

IMO, the ultimate objective should be to produce a durable tire that lets the drivers really work their cars at the limit. Let the driver drive the car, rather than the car drive the driver.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Its very simple in my eyes.

If you go slower and conserve your tyres, you have less pitstops.
Quicker, and you will need more pitstops.

It opens, the game up to strategy. Something F1 didnt have in 2010, other than wet races or Canada. And correct me if im wrong but how many borefests did we have excluding Canada and the wet races? Quite a few, especially silly tyres that could last whole race, basically making a pitstop just for show as it wasnt even necessary.

I hope Pirellis gamble on faster wearing tyres pays off for more exciting races.

[godlameroso]

I hate to sound like broken record, but making the compounds softer would pretty much fix all our concerns. I like the fact the tires don't last the whole race, I like the fact their performance plummets like matter at the event horizon of a black hole once past their usable limits. I just think it's incredibly lazy on their part IF they don't improve tire grip as a result, at least while the tire is in it's working range.

If they do make a tire that is faster(again within it's usable window), then kudos to them. I've owned Pirelli tires on my street car, it's hardly a good comparison, but anyone that has owned a set of P zero's will know they're not cheap. I'm not complaining about the price or the lousy milage, I feel the tire is worth the price because they're so freaking sticky...for a road tire. I just think that's Pirelli's image anyway, tires with great base grip, good consistency once they're within operating range, and lousy wear. Very Italian.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I hate to sound like broken record, but making the compounds softer would pretty much fix all our concerns. I like the fact the tires don't last the whole race, I like the fact their performance plummets like matter at the event horizon of a black hole once past their usable limits. I just think it's incredibly lazy on their part IF they don't improve tire grip as a result, at least while the tire is in it's working range.

+1
The fact is once the tyres go off, the car becomes harder to drive. It becomes especially harder to drive faster, and when an opponent is under pressure, mistakes will become more visible and also more prevalent.

Basically more show. Not a bad thing in my book regardless of wether the Bridgestone tye is technically a better tyre, who really cares?

[Jersey Tom]

I hate to sound like broken record, but making the compounds softer would pretty much fix all our concerns.

If only it were that simple. I don't really agree, and Pirelli would probably have safety concerns with going too soft. Hint: heat. Heat bad.

The fact is once the tyres go off, the car becomes harder to drive.

Is this a good thing? Do we want tires that are very delicate and difficult to drive? Would that string the field out even further than it is, benefiting only the absolute best drivers and/or setups?

IMO, I'd rather have a tire that is fairly tough, durable, and easy to drive at the limit. I don't want drivers to be afraid of pushing the car for fear of toasting the tires and screwing the rest of their run. I want the driver to feel confident that he can really get after the guy in front of him, and make some ballsy passing attempts and have the tires left to do it again on the next corner and the next lap... rather than "Ok you get one shot to pass this guy and if you cook the tires you're hosed."

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

JT

Durable tyres dont add anything to racing. I would say you to make tyres a variable, you have to either go too hard or too soft.

Too soft and drivers will need to wrestle the car towards the end of the stints and they will need to balance outright speed for tyre conservation.
Yes outright speed can still be attained in the 5 laps the car can utilise its tyres, but the offset is making the extra pitstop during a race.

This is something we had very rarely last year, due in no part to the durable tyres bridgestone brought. They were near perfect tyres as they offered good grip with fantastic lifespan. So instead of tyres being a variable, they were a constant.
Everyone had pretty much the same game plan and pitted at around the same time.

We even saw some teams go 3/4 of race distance on the same tyre if they qualified poorly, basically trundling along not adding any spectacle whatsoever.

Now going on a tyre that is too hard will give you pretty much the same unpredictabilty. Cars will slide more, less grip would sort the men out from the boys. The only caveat would be that no pitstops would be necessary as the tyre would be giving you the same levels of grip(minimal). But if the action is spiced up on track, the demise of Pitstops will not be missed.

All my opinion of course, hope not to have added a giant bullseye on my anus....

[Richard]

JT - you want the sort of grip normally seen on a slot car?

To me F1 should be a challenge to keep man and machine on the road. We need tyres that challenge the driver. I want drivers to worry about getting around Eau Rouge without lifting the right foot. At the moment they all keep their foot down. If some of them had doubts in their mind about the grip we'll be able to sort the men from the boys.

Also, you can only make a brave overtaking move if the car in front is slower, or the driver is struggling to handle the corner. That requires more variables, including more varied grip. A car on new tyres having a performance advantage over the car on old tyres.

They say a car needs to be a second a lap quicker to overcome the aero difficulties of overtaking. So lets hope the old tyres are more than a second slower per lap.

[ESPImperium]

The problem with the Bridgestones is that they had an initial 5 laps of superb grip levels then had about 3-8 laps where the tires went off then came back to a good level again for about 15-40 laps dependant on compound.

I agree that the tires should be either too hard or too soft, make driving style a factor on the tires and how you make them last.

However, one thing id also like for the sporting side is for the drivers that make it into Q3, have to do a single four lap run, including in and out laps, those tires going towards the top 10 at the start of the race. Thus allowing the midfield to charge on the first lap or two, making the top ten work harder.

Personally, a set of hard tires should never make it to half distance, make two and three stoppers more the norm.

Id also make it that the supers overheat like an bun in the oven even with the coldest track temperatures, and hards are as cold as ice in comparison even on the hottest day at Bahrain. Softs and Mediums should be different definitions of either of the aforementioned. Thats after a amount of laps, say 5 or 7 laps.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Yes, a too soft compound mixed in the same race with a too hard compound would be a tantalising prospect.
May even be revolutionary in terms of impact on the sport.

[Jersey Tom]

Certainly entitled to your opinions. Just giving you mine, as an engineer at a tire company, where drivers have given pretty direct feedback that tires which are a bear to drive make for shitty racing, and make passing very difficult, for the reasons mentioned before.

[ringo]

Tell me something, for the tyres, does the thickness of the carcass have a relation to the usable life?
It would be nice to have soft grippy tyres that stay that way for many laps.
It would wear down while still having much usable, not overly worked, rubber to deliver the similar grip.
The thick carcass would provide enough mass to absorb the heat away from the surface i guess?
Pirellis seem to be slower and less durable, which i don't mind, but the fall off seems to be to drastic.
It's like chrome plated plastic , it has a nice sweet layer on top that quickly rubs off and we have useless crap underneath.

[ESPImperium]

How about a total overhaul of the tire rules;

* Drivers have access to 3 compounds each weekend Hard (Red), Medium (Yellow) & Soft (Green)
* Each car has access to 3 sets of hard, 3 sets of mediums and 2 sets of softs
* Hards typically last 40 laps per 5km lap (60km useable life)
* Mediums typically last 25 laps per 5km lap (100km useable life)
* Softs should last no more than 15 laps per 5km lap (150km useable life)
* Each grade has around a second step in lap time between each compound in ultimate lap time
* Every driver in Q3 has to use the mediums for their single run
* Leaving open total tire strategy
* The drivers knocked out in Q1 have access to an additional set of hards
* This gives drivers up to 310km on a 2 stopper using all 3 compounds in a race or 300km on the twin hard compound strategy the tail enders are able to use. But will probably mean more stops.

* Each driver has access to 4 sets of inters (White) and 4 sets of wets (Blue) per weekend, with one set set aside for the start of the race for each car
* Both wet compounds need to last no more than 45 laps per 5km lap (useable distance 225km)
* This means teams need to pit each car at least once per wet race

* It basically means that drivers have to look after their tires from Friday onwards, and choose when to go fast and when to conserve and such.

Id also allow each team an additional allowance of a set of mediums for a FP1 driver if they run one.

[godlameroso]

Certainly entitled to your opinions. Just giving you mine, as an engineer at a tire company, where drivers have given pretty direct feedback that tires which are a bear to drive make for shitty racing, and make passing very difficult, for the reasons mentioned before.

My opinion doesn't deviate much from yours, perhaps it is very technically challenging to make a tire with great, and consistent grip that although doesn't last very long (10 - 12 laps) is very grippy and consistent in it's window of operation

[Ferraripilot]

This scenario seems to be a likely conundrum for 2011:

Car A average lap time with new softs: 1:15.500 degraded softs after 4 laps 1:17.500
Car A average lap time with new meds: 1:16.3 degraded mediums after 7 laps 1:17.500
Car A average lap time with hards: 1:17.000 degraded hards after 15 laps 1:17.500

See where I'm going with this? Drivers are saying the tires just "fall off" really quick. I believe Lewis was the one who worded it as such. There is going to be no point to having softs other than for Q, and even then one must make for sure they get their key lap in while the tires are still in one piece.