2018-2020 Tyres Thread

[godlameroso]

2017 the Supersoft was pretty useless in most cases. Durability was not much better than the Ultrasoft and the Soft was usually equal or faster after just a few laps when the SS started to degrade.

I wonder what this years bad tyre will be, for now they looked pretty good and durable. And i like this one stop slower at the end vs 2 stop faster, but needs to overtake strategies.

I don't think they're necessarily bad tires, for one I think some teams have trouble switching them on right away, or getting the most out of them in qualifying. As far as their durability I think they're in a good place, they have consistent performance and then start dropping off, the harder tires drop off less but start slower. It makes for interesting crossover of performance, this adds strategy. I'm sure running on the harder tires it's possible to do one stop, but not on the softer compounds.

I wonder how the pecking order will change once the teams start understanding the current tires more. Their different construction I'm sure has new unintended effects on aero as well, so getting to grips with that will require aero modifications.

[1158]

Now the regs say no updates for these tyre tests, but what are the chances a different spec PU gets trialed? Teams obviously aren't going to use 1 of the 3 PUs they have for this year and would be foolish to not try and use an updated PU. A new FW or RWEP would be easy to spot, new PU developments would be a lot harder to spot, especially if they are internal.

[PhillipM]

They're not hard to spot when you have sealed PU's and FIA observers all over.
You'd be stupid to try to pull that, you'd get an immediate DQ from the championship for the return of what, a bit of testing time on track?!

[NL_Fer]

Maybe try some engine settings on track, which u don’t want to risk one of the championship engine for?

[1158]

They're not hard to spot when you have sealed PU's and FIA observers all over.
You'd be stupid to try to pull that, you'd get an immediate DQ from the championship for the return of what, a bit of testing time on track?!

No it wouldn't be a sealed PU. Why would it have a FIA sticker on it. It wouldn't be one of the ones already in use nor would it be one used in the future. You think team's would agree to put extra mileage on 1 of their 3 allowed PUs for this season? No way.

They have to be allowed to use a separate PU. In other words it could be a development PU that they test. How is the FIA going to know?

-sorry for getting this thread derailed. Was just a thought I had...

[FPV GTHO]

What are the chances of a development engine running smoothly. The FIA and Pirelli are going to switch on pretty quick if "unexplained gremlins" start holding back the tyre testing. I dont think theyre even allowed setup changes, so id imagine the itiniery for the test would largely be Pirelli dictating "fit this tyre, do this many laps, fit that tyre, do that many laps" etc.

[1158]

What are the chances of a development engine running smoothly. The FIA and Pirelli are going to switch on pretty quick if "unexplained gremlins" start holding back the tyre testing. I dont think theyre even allowed setup changes, so id imagine the itiniery for the test would largely be Pirelli dictating "fit this tyre, do this many laps, fit that tyre, do that many laps" etc.

Good point, but if it's a development PU they've had on the dyno for a while I bet they could do it. To me it seems like an opening to try and gain an advantage. I would think the engine manufacturers have at least thought about it. At the very least it would be a way to correlate wear seen on the dyno with the spec PU to actual running wear.

You're right tho, if there were lots of running delays it probably wouldn't look good to the FIA lol.

[PhillipM]

They have to be allowed to use a separate PU. In other words it could be a development PU that they test. How is the FIA going to know?

They have observers actually at the teams for things like that.

[godlameroso]

Now that teams all know how much of an advantage it is to have fresh tires during any VSC or safety car will we see a change in overall strategy that automatically sees cars pit for new rubber regardless of track position? Or has Pirelli unwittingly created a new element of strategy? Gain pace or track position, I guess it depends on your current track position and tire life, but seems like an extra curve ball has been added to the races.

[NL_Fer]

I think it was China’s below 20c temperatures during practice, which made tyre info a little uncertain. We have seen it before last years. We will see beter calculations on the tracks to come, which will be 20-30c average.

[FPV GTHO]

I dont think Pirelli have brought anything new here. Theres more of an argument to be made that Mercedes strategy team has been under little to no pressure the past 4 years and are now being found out compared to Red Bull and Ferrari

[markovski19]

Just after a quick clarification wanted here.

Do the top 10 drivers on Sunday have to leave the pitlane when it opens 30 mins before race start and get around to the startline (including however many extra laps they do) on the tyres they did their fastest lap in Q2?

Or can they use whatever tyre to get around, then stick on the Q2 tyres for the top 10 while on the grid, before the race start?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[ivanlesk]

Just after a quick clarification wanted here.

Do the top 10 drivers on Sunday have to leave the pitlane when it opens 30 mins before race start and get around to the startline (including however many extra laps they do) on the tyres they did their fastest lap in Q2?

Or can they use whatever tyre to get around, then stick on the Q2 tyres for the top 10 while on the grid, before the race start?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I would say they can use any tire they want.

[iichel]

So I don't want to (re)start any "Pirelli favours Mercedes" discussions. But I do want to ask something in regard to the current tires.

We know Pirelli reduced the thickness of the compounds with about 0.4mm.
Just to put that into context, does anyone know the approximate thickness of the compounds? How much are we losing, percentage wise?

0.4mm on the current tires (305/670-13 front, 405/670-13 rear) will mean a loss of rubber of:
Front: 305*((305*0.67)+13*25.4)*pi*0.4 = 204k mm^3 = 204 cm^3
Rear: 405*((405*0.67)+13*25.4)*pi*0.4 = 306k mm^3 = 306 cm^3

I hope I'm interpreting the 305/670-13 tire size correctly; 305mm wide thread, height is 67% of 305mm, 13 inch rim.

[FPV GTHO]

670 is the total height of the tyre in mm