Rear tire wear

[DaveKillens]

While observing the Malaysia GP, I came to the conclusion that on the cars I noticed, the white indicator band for soft tires was wearing out on the rears, much more than the front.
This leads me to believe that on softs, the rear tires wear more quickly than the fronts. I also searched the FIA regulations for groove depth specifications, and could not find anything specific. Until now I always assumed the grooves front and rear were the same depth.
Can anyone please help me on determining if the rear and fronts have different sized grooves, and what leads to the rear white line for softs wearing much quicker than the fronts.

[pRo]

the white indicator band for soft tires was wearing out on the rears, much more than the front

Are you sure it was wearing out?

In some closeups it looked like the grooves on the rears picked up a lot of rubber(?) in them and that's what made the white lines disappear quickly.

[mx_tifoso]

Another factor for more wear on the rear tires could possible be that they spin a lot more, especially on acceleration from a low speed, or a dead stop as well. That is a condition that the fronts dont experience. And the rears also experience more sliding action as well. Adding all of those factors plus the ones already mentioned might give you the answer you are looking for.
I'm not sure if this may help you, but I hope it will.
I will look more into that as I keep on watching more footage of the Malaysian GP.

[DaveKillens]

It's possible the rear tire white line just gets covered up, the grooves are still there. It's not that the tread wears down to a slick. But if it's rubber buildup, this could lead to vibration, something that should be common to this type of grooved tire. Right now, I find that hard because the fronts seem untouched by rubber buildup.
I also wonder about the type of white marker, it may flake off under the extreme squirm the tires experience.
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.ph ... =1105-2128

[kilcoo316]

Rear tyres (on a rwd) car will usually wear quicker than the fronts.


Just look at the friction circle during operation.


Both take longitudinal loads under braking

Both take lateral loads under cornering

Only the rears take longitudinal loads under acceleration.

[pRo]

I also wonder about the type of white marker, it may flake off under the extreme squirm the tires experience.

Good point. I couldn't really see if it was covered by dirt or just vanished. But it didn't look like it could've been worn.

Like in the pic you posted. The grooves are still there, but the white line is gone. I don't think the tyre surface flexes enough for the bottom of the groove to make contact against the track...?

[DaveKillens]

While watching the race in Bahrain, I kept an eye on the white bands, especially the rears. They seemd fine most of the stint, and just around lap 20 started to fade quickly. On the cars I observed, after 20 laps the white band on the rears had faded away completely, while the fronts retained a strong white band. My theory still revolves around wear, and that when the tires have worn most of the way down, tire squirm and contact with the road surface finally removes the white paint.

[RH1300S]

I am sure I read that the rear Bridgestones were deliberately engineered (or just happen to..) to wear faster than the fronts. It's not a performance advantage thing - I just cannot remember the reason.

So, yes - I think your observation is correct. Visually I would agree with you too.

I suppose it's not really too much of a problem if the white line vanishes somewhere through a stint. Firstly it's looking like it will always be visible on the fronts - secondly with only 2x different tyres on 2/3 stints it is hardly beyond the wit of most fans (& certainly race engineers) to remember what tyres the car had fitted at the stops.