Tyre Warmer Ban 2015

[FW17]

Tyre warmers are banned from 2015, another dumb idea by FIA. This was tried out a few years for 2009 but dropped when drivers criticized the idea based on safety.

Heidfeld: F1 wil be extremely dangerous in 2009

Nick Heidfeld was not amused at the end of Wednesday's test at Jerez. The German busied himself with slicks and the aero package that comes under the rules for the 2009 Formula One season. The 2009 rules bring only half the downforce in comparison with today's rules and with slicks that are not up to temperature it is getting even worse. Heidfeld, who was the slowest man on track, was all but positive about the proposed changes for 2009.

He said about his day of testing: "Today (Wednesday), we ran with the 2009 downforce, which will be around half as effective as the one we're driving with this season. If the slicks return, they won't give as much grip as you'd expect as we will also lose grip as there is less downforce, so we will be slower in 2009.

"If it will stay like this and the tyres will stay like this, it will be extremely dangerous in 2009. On my outlap I even thought about coming back in, because there were so many drivers flying past me. You feel like you're standing still compared to the others and it's very easy to spin the car. It's very, very dangerous."

Heidfeld suggest a better tyre might be the trick for more downforce in 2009 but isn't sure if that is going to happen. "Bridgestone could turn this around by making better tyres, but the question is: does it make sense for them?" Heidfeld said. "If there's another tyre supplier and there is competition, it would be solved. If the tyres become softer, it will help a lot. But I'm not a tyre expert, maybe the mixture of the compound should change, but like this, it will be extremely dangerous. They should change the tyres, or they should allow tyre heaters for 2009."

Next season the FIA will bann traction control on cars to make the races more interesting. But with the aero rules for 2009 and perhaps the return of slicks Heidfeld believes things won't get much easier. "Without traction control it's even worse, but if we would run with traction control (in 2009), it would still be very, very difficult. Even if the tyres are hot, you have so little grip with the new package. We have too much power and too little grip. I don't like it at all," a disappointed Heidfeld said.

The idea has no cost benefit as teams tend to use the same blankets for multiple years

With Pirelli era having more stops the and the f1 pitlane so crowded and sub 2 sec pit stops, the ban is an unnecessary safety risk, specially with a hi-torque

[CMSMJ1]

I would counter that and say that the tyre manufacturer will have to create a product with a faster warmup time.

The 2009 cars were fast enough and no way had half the downforce though eh?

I like the idea and would like it even more if there was tyre competition too..

[olefud]

As a personal prejudice I like racing between fast drivers in fast cars. Fuel and tire strategies and artificial sometimes-fast-depending-on-the-circumstances cars are distractions. Starting on cold tires just makes the pit stop effectively longer and the racing a bit more dangerous until the tires get heat.
Anybody know if the Pirellis are pressure sensitive? If so, starting on low pressures and temperatures is asking for trouble.

[hollus]

From a competitive point of view I like it. More things for the drivers to do and to make a difference, more variable behaviour of the cars. It will also be good for the show, as the cars will be 1-2 seconds a lap slower for a lap or so out of the pits which will create make or break strategic situations and "natural" on track passing opportunities.
I could go on and on with the consequences (early warmers -> early wearers?).

But from a philosophycal point of view, this is madness. These are high performance cars supposed to go as fast as they can. If going fast means pre-warming your tires, which implies a minor cost and no safety risks, why should they not be allowed to? The engine cannot even start without being prewarmed. Why single the tires out? And no, it is not exactly ideal from a safety point of view.

[FrukostScones]

There will a huge backlash (but no person responsible) if something really bad happens because of this.

I don't see a good reason for doing it.

[Huntresa]

Pirelli is alrdy testing fast warm up tyres for 2015.

[simieski]

So the pit stop undercut as of 2015 will be of little use?

[rscsr]

How the hell is everyone talking about safety. What is unsafe about cold tyres. There is no difference to overusing the tyres. And if you want to make them safe. Allow traction control, ABS, automatic transmission, torque vectoring and all that stuff.

I can't hear it anymore that something is unsafe. Overdriving is unsafe. And therefore why not introduce a time limit so they wouldn't be unsafe at racing.

[hollus]

A cold tire is also a deflated tire. That can be unsafe.
It has to work at a certain pressure when it is at 20C and at a quite different pressure when it is at 110C. If the tire is built so that this won't affect safety, then it will performance at the normal operating temperature that takes a hit.

[andylaurence]

I don't see the problem from a safety standpoint. It's just something for the teams and drivers to work out (and Pirelli, of course). A sprint starts from a standing start on cold tyres (no warm-up laps, no tyre warmers, nothing) and people don't have trouble with that. I've only got a little power, but the guys with ex-F1 V8 engines don't complain about it. It's only because the grip will reduce from one lap to another that they're not happy. People never enjoy having less grip!

[Bazza]

How the hell is everyone talking about safety. What is unsafe about cold tyres. There is no difference to overusing the tyres. And if you want to make them safe. Allow traction control, ABS, automatic transmission, torque vectoring and all that stuff.

I can't hear it anymore that something is unsafe. Overdriving is unsafe. And therefore why not introduce a time limit so they wouldn't be unsafe at racing.

This guy gets it.

Come on everyone - this is a good thing, there's no need to be such a big baby when stuff like this, the 09 regulations, the tc bans, etc come around.

Simieski is absolutely right - this kills the undercut. And by extension the perplexing, barbaric pit/race strategies of the last few years.
By pitting first, you force yourself into a very slow outlap, and by pitting second, you still get that outlap,plus a 1-2 second on-track advantage. Basically, you can now block someone in the pits by pitting a lap after them. Pitting 2 laps later, when they're up to speed will probably get you overtaken in short order.

[olefud]

What is unsafe about cold tyres. There is no difference to overusing the tyres.

I can't hear it anymore that something is unsafe. Overdriving is unsafe. And therefore why not introduce a time limit so they wouldn't be unsafe at racing.

There’s a choice as to how much tires are overused. There’s a choice as to the car is overdriven or not. There’s no choice as to whether the driver goes out with underinflated tires.

[rscsr]

What is unsafe about cold tyres. There is no difference to overusing the tyres.

I can't hear it anymore that something is unsafe. Overdriving is unsafe. And therefore why not introduce a time limit so they wouldn't be unsafe at racing.

There’s a choice as to how much tires are overused. There’s a choice as to the car is overdriven or not. There’s no choice as to whether the driver goes out with underinflated tires.

But there's still a choice how to drive not perfect tires. So I don't see a problem there. The limit is just lower.

[theTTshark]

Every other series on the planet doesn't make use of tire warmers. Have they suffered because of the lack of them? I know you're going to say, "but F1 is the fastest ever!" LMP1 doesn't use them. Indycar doesn't use them (road races or ovals). NASCAR doesn't use them. So you mean to tell me that 1) F1 engineers can't figure out how to get around this issue and 2) that the supposed best drivers in the world can't drive around the issue? What a joke. The drivers will adjust their driving. The pressure increase in the tires won't be substantial because they are using Nitrogen already. The most that will happen is we'll see some guys locking up/spinning out on the out lap and drivers being instructed to not hit certain curbs on the way out.

[Pup]

While I'm sure the sport will survive without tire warmers, I've never understood the drive to get rid of them. They can't be that expensive, relative to everything else the sport spends money on.

And if it is about the money, I've never understood is why the teams don't sell ad space on them. They're one of the few things in the race almost guaranteed to get at a few seconds' close up shot on camera.