FIA Include Ferrari In Test Row

The FIA has asked Ferrari to reply to a disciplinary inquiry along with Mercedes, following an in-season test conducted by the Scuderia between the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix. This comes after Mercedes also conducted a private test between the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix.

During the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, it came to light that Mercedes had conducted a private test with Pirelli around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya only days after the Spanish Grand Prix. This understandably sparked controversy within the paddock, as the team went from suffering greatly with tyre wear to dominating the entire race weekend. Red Bull in particular launched a protest against both Pirelli and the German marque with regards to their secret test, with both believed to be in breach of Article 22.4 of the sporting regulations.

Although Ferrari’s test was run with a two-year old Formula 1 car and by their Corse Clienti division, the FIA released a statement on Friday night requesting both the Scuderia and Mercedes reply to a disciplinary inquiry from the sport’s governing body. It is believed Ferrari could also be in breach of Article 22.1 of the sporting regulations, which clarifies whether or not a previous years car can be used in a test session.

“The FIA has asked Team Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 and Scuderia Ferrari Team which have taken part in tyre tests in the 2013 season to reply to a disciplinary inquiry in pursuance of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules.” Read the official statement from the FIA, “This follows the Stewards’ Report from the Monaco Grand Prix and represents supplementary information required by the FIA in the light of the replies received from Pirelli, who were asked for clarifications on Tuesday May 28th.”

With the Canadian Grand Prix quickly approaching, it seems “test-gate” is far from being resolved between Pirelli and the various teams involved. The revised tyres which were scheduled to be introduced around the Circuit du Gilles Villeneuve will only be used during practice, and will instead by fully introduced at the British Grand Prix.

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Pirelli Pondering Structural Change To Tyre Range

Italian tyre supplier Pirelli could well be set to alter the structure of their 2013 range of tyres, following Paul di Resta’s tyre failure in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix. This alteration could in turn force the teams to adapt to potentially altered aerodynamics due to changes to the structure, which could make its first appearance at the British Grand Prix in July.

During practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, Paul di Resta suffered a left-rear tyre failure on the exit of the final corner. Luckily the Scotsman managed to remain in control of his car, and he eventually parked it at the side of the track down the start/finish straight.

Such an change would come only several weeks after Pirelli elected to change their hard tyre compound, in a bid to allow the teams much more scope for varying strategies. The current issue with Pirelli’s tyres is that the metal ring which provides rigidity to the tyre apparently overheats, therefore melting the tread and creating increased tyre wear. Eventually the issue deteriorates to a point where the structure of tyre fails, such as was witnessed on Paul di Resta’s Force India during practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.

For 2013 the tyres were once again changed for the new season, with the side wall of the tyres made softer. This created a change in the aerodynamics of the cars, forcing many teams to redesign their cars to compensate for the characteristics of the new tyres. Should Pirelli once again change the structure of the tyre [not to be confused with the compound] then the aerodynamics could potentially once again be disrupted. Pirelli has stressed they will not make any drastic actions, and that any changes will hopefully not affect the various cars’ aerodynamics.

Since replacing Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone as the sports sole tyre supplier, Pirelli has been in the spotlight many times with regards to their controversial tyres. Despite making the racing highly entertaining, it seems their popularity amongst both the fans and teams is rapidly deflating.

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Pirelli Set To Alter Hard Tyre Compound

Pirelli has announced plans to alter their hard tyre compound from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, following discussions held with the Formula 1 teams with regards to their new tyre range. The aim is to allow the teams much more opportunity to run a wider range of strategies, whilst retaining the unpredictability that has become renowned by Pirelli’s tyres.

The opening four races of the season have been utterly dominated by Pirelli’s new tyre range, with the soft tyre compound used in China proving particularly troublesome. Although Red Bull in particular has been out-spoken against Pirelli’s tyres, many teams and drivers up and down the grid remain content with the tyres. The revised hard compound will be available to the drivers from the opening practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix, where they will be allocated alongside the medium compound.

“After evaluating tyre performance over the balance of the first four races, we took the decision – in consultation with all of the teams – to change the hard compound from Spain onwards.” Explained Pirelli’s motorsport director, Paul Hembery. “This latest version of the hard compound is much closer to the 2012 tyre, with the aim of giving the teams more opportunity to run a wider range of strategies in combination with the other compounds, which remain unchanged.”

After the Spanish Grand Prix, the sport will move to the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix around the streets of Monte-Carlo, where the soft and super-soft tyre compounds will once again be allocated. From Monaco, the sport will ahead to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix, where the super-soft tyre will once again be utilized alongside the medium tyre. As ever each team will receive six sets of the harder compound and five sets of the softer compound, as well as four sets of the intermediate tyre and four sets of the full wet tyre should they be required.

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Jenson Button & Paul di Resta Positive Towards Pirelli’s Tyres

Amid controversy surrounding Pirelli’s 2013 tyre range, Jenson Button and Paul di Resta have explained how they believe the Italian supplier’s new range has had a positive impact on the sport. Throughout the opening three races, “tyres” has been mentioned incessantly as the grid has struggled to understand the new range.

However, Jenson Button in particular has explained how he thinks the opening three races of the new season have been extremely entertaining, despite the Briton’s lack of decent results after McLaren’s woeful start to their 2013 campaign. Last time out in China, the 2009 World Champion opted for a two-stop strategy which enabled him to progress from 8th to 5th during the 56-lap race. There is no question that the Pirelli tyres have contributed to a lot more overtaking in recent races, however some fans have been divided in their opinions on whether this is good or bad for the sport.

“I think there’s been a lot of overtaking.” Explained Jenson Button, in defense of Pirelli who have received lots of negativity in recent weeks. “You know, we’re never going to be happy with everything in this sport or in any sport but I think the racing has been good fun. I was on the receiving end of most of it at the last race, because obviously doing less stops you’re running old tyres most of the time, so there’s people overtaking you most of the time. So it’s not the enjoyable part of it for me, but I think if you were doing a three-stop strategy at the last race it was a fun race. They seemed like they were able to push pretty hard.

“In the past we had tyres that would last the whole race and there wasn’t any overtaking. It’s very difficult to get the correct balance. But we’re having two or three stops which I think is what the idea was for racing in 2013 so that’s good and there are a lot of teams fighting at the front. I think Formula One’s great at the moment. I’m really enjoying racing.”

Paul di Resta has also spoken out in defence of Pirelli’s 2013 range of tyres.

Paul di Resta also believes Pirelli’s unpredictable tyres are having a positive impact on the sport, with midfield team’s such as Force India able to punch well above their weight as the tyres level the playing field. During the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Adrian Sutil led 11 laps during the race after starting the race from 12th on the grid. Last season teams such as Sauber and Williams reaped the rewards of the unpredictability caused by the tyres, something Paul di Resta and Force India are keen to do this season.

“I see it as a very positive thing in the position that we are as a team, midfield, where Jenson’s fighting at the moment.” Said Paul di Resta, “Obviously we’re trying to take it to them, but being unpredictable gives you chances. Equally, when you see the big guys at the front, putting a load through the tyres in qualifying, it plays into our hands towards the end of stints. At the end of a Grand Prix, that’s valuable points for us and if you can take a gamble and it pays off, like the position we were in last year, we definitely didn’t have a car that deserved to be sixth but we got ourselves to do that and went away with some very big success. That leads momentum into other Grands Prix.”

It’s unquestionable that Pirelli has injected much more action and excitement into the sport in recent years, irregardless of the complaints throughout the paddock in recent weeks. Naturally those teams’ and drivers’ who would usually fail to score points on a regular basis are going to sing the praises of Pirelli, in a sport which now has more emphasis than ever before on strategy.

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Pirelli Australia 3D Track Experience (Video)

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Pirelli Announce Tyre Range For Opening Four Races

Pirelli have announced their tyre nominations for the opening four races of the new year, as the season-opening Australian Grand Prix looms ever closer. The Italian tyre supplier are hopeful that their new tyre range will increase the amount of pit-stops over a race weekend, and see race strategies become a key part of a teams preparations.

For the first time in Pirelli’s history as a tyre supplier, their super-soft tyre will be used for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, alongside the medium tyre. Pirelli are hopeful that this particular tyre selection will see a performance gap throughout the weekend, as well varying strategies between the teams. Once again the medium and hard tyres will be used for the Malaysian Grand Prix, with the heat and abrasive surface of the Sepang International Circuit forcing Pirelli to utilize the two hardest tyres of the range.

With high degradation expected for the Chinese Grand Prix around the Shanghai International Circuit, Pirelli have elected for the soft and medium tyre compound. Last season saw tyre wear greatly effect the result throughout the final few laps, with Kimi Raikkonen in particular plummeting through the order. For the fourth round of the season at Bahrain, Pirelli have decided to once again opt for a completely new tyre nomination with the soft and hard tyre compound.

The step in the tyre range for this event has been chosen to ensure speed in qualifying, as well as durability for the race which usually takes place in searing temperatures around the Sakhir circuit. For each race weekend the teams will be offered six sets of the harder compound and five sets of the softer compound, as well as four sets of the Cinturato intermediate and three sets of the Cinturato rain tyres.

Last season Pirelli’s tyres greatly assisted in producing some of the most entertaining races the sport has ever seen, with varying results at each event. Although many believe such unpredictability will not be repeated, Pirelli are hopeful of continuing the excitement which made the 2012 season so unique.

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Pirelli: A Year In Statistics

Throughout the 2012 season one thing has remained a major talking point within the paddock: Pirelli’s controversial tyre compounds. From the word go in pre-season testing at Jerez and Barcelona, it quickly became apparent that 2012 would be dominated by Pirelli’s new assortment of P Zero and Cinturato tyres,

Formula 1 visited twenty different tracks throughout the 2012 season, and each one presented different characteristics and therefore different behavior from the Pirelli tyres. Some tracks saw tyre wear become a monumentally race changing factor, and therefore largely contributed to the unbelievably unpredictable start to the season which saw seven different winners including the likes of Pastor Maldonado and Nico Rosberg. Eventually, some form of normality was resumed as the likes of Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel returned to their winning ways.

However, the tyres still remained a pivotal factor throughout the season. Some disliked how much the tyres dictated the sport throughout the year, with drivers visibly opting for a more conservative driving style to make the tyres last longer. This put drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher at a great disadvantage, as they were two of many drivers who drove in a style which wore the tyres out much faster than the likes of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez who seemed unperturbed by the tyres wear rate.

Over the due course of the season, Pirelli provided the sport with 31,800 race tyres of which 22,500 were dry and 9,300 were wet. An additional 6,600 were supplied to the teams for the Jerez, Barcelona and Mugello tests. Of these vast numbers, 6% were super-soft, 25% were soft, 21% were medium, 17% were hard, 18% were intermediate, 11% were wet and only 2% were development tyres. Despite the staggering amount of tyres issued by Pirelli, not all were used. Only 21,400 dry tyres and 2,100 wet tyres were used by the teams throughout the season, which still adds up to a pretty unimaginable amount of rubber per season.

Although refueling is banned in Formula 1 and drivers now only pit for new tyres or front wings, these notorious Pirelli tyres still saw a combined total of 957 pit stops throughout 2012, of which 14 were for drive-through penalties and two were for stop-and-go penalties. The most pit stops carried out in one race was 76 in Malaysia, a wet/dry race which was eventually won by Fernando Alonso who only carried out three pit stops on his way to victory. The least amount of pit stops in one race was at the penultimate United States Grand Prix, which only saw a meagre 24 pit stops. The fastest pit stop of the season was carried out by McLaren on Jenson Button at the German Grand Prix, a stop which lasted a mesmerizing 2.31 seconds!

Overall Pirelli have started 242 Formula 1 races since the inaugural season back in 1950, a season which saw Pirelli supply tyres to the likes of Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari. Since then, F1 has seen numerous other tyres suppliers enter and leave the sport including Dunlop, Goodyear, Bridgestone and Michelin. Pirelli have won 83 races in their time in Formula 1, and will most certainly add to that tally in the years to come as they continue to fox the drivers and thrill the spectators by providing Formula 1 with some of the most controversial and temperamental tyres to spice up the action.

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Pirelli To Offer Teams With 2013 Development Tyres At Brazil

Pirelli have announced they will offer the teams with a prototype of the 2013 tyres for the opening two practice sessions at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, which will see either Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso be crowned a triple World Champion. Next year’s Pirelli tyres will feature different characteristics to this year’s compounds.

Pirelli’s controversial P Zero and Cinturato tyres have greatly effected the results this season, and have kept the teams perplexed for the majority of the year. As the season has progressed, the teams have gradually managed to work with the tyres, with normality being resumed as Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull enjoyed a resurgence in the latter half of the season. Pirelli aim to continue making life difficult for the teams and drivers next season, with the tyres set to once again change over the winter period.

As the teams and drivers prepare for this weekend’s grand finale around Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit, Pirelli have decided to offer the teams with a prototype of the 2013 tyre for the teams to test during the opening two practice sessions on Friday. With the compounds and construction of the tyres once again set to alter, the teams and drivers will understandably be eager to begin working with the new tyres.

“We’ll be bringing some of our 2013 prototype tyres to Brazil in order for the teams to get a taste of them during free practice.” Explained Pirelli’s motor sport director, Paul Hembery. “With no testing until February otherwise, this will be an extremely valuable opportunity for them to see what our new tyres are like as they finalize their 2013 cars – so let’s hope that it doesn’t rain on Friday!

“Both the compounds and construction will be different, which means that the characteristics of the new tyres will be altered, with a wider working range and some compounds that are slightly more aggressive. We’ve yet to finalize where exactly all the compounds will sit in relation to each other, which is why we are calling the tyre to be used in Brazil a ‘prototype’ rather than giving it a specific nomination, but it will be very representative of our general design philosophy next year.”

With rain forecast for the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, Pirelli will be hoping Friday’s two practice sessions remain dry to allow the drivers to test the new prototype compounds. This past season has been greatly effect by the Pirelli tyres, and it seems next year will also be centered around the tyres as the teams and drivers strive gain as much knowledge as possible ahead of the new season.

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Pirelli To Offer Teams With An Extra Set Of Tyres For Practice At Austin

Pirelli will offer the teams an extra set of hard tyres for practice ahead of the United States Grand Prix, to allow the teams to complete extra running to quickly learn the brand-new layout. No driver or team has any knowledge on how the track will evolve, with only simulator work to help them prepare for the race weekend.

With the majority of the grid eager to take to the Circuit of the Americas as soon as practice one gets underway on Friday, Pirelli will also be in the dark as they too have little knowledge on the track from a tyre perspective. To counter this lack of knowledge, the sole tyre provider have opted for a slightly conservative tyre allocation of the P Zero Hard (silver) and Medium (white) tyres for the weekend.

“The Italian firm is bringing the P Zero Silver hard and P Zero White medium tyres: a reasonably conservative compound choice for a circuit where there are still a number of unknown factors when it comes to tyre performance.” Read a statement from Pirelli ahead of the race weekend, “The teams will be given an extra set of the hard tyre for Friday’s two free practice sessions in order to help them learn the all-new track.”

Seeing as the track is completely brand-new, grip levels are expected to be rather low during the early stages of the weekend. Along with what looks to be a tricky layout, the teams and drivers could well be in for a tough race weekend in Texas. With the Championship nearing its conclusion, the venue could well spice things up further in what has already been an unforgettable season.

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Pirelli’s Japanese 3D Track Experience

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