Tag: featured

Milan, 3 June 2013:  The Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal is an interesting circuit with a mixture of long, fast straights and slow corners. Pirelli will bring the P Zero White medium and P Zero Red supersoft tyres to Montreal: both tyres with a low working range, which makes them perfectly matched to the likely weather conditions at the semi-permanent Canadian track. Temperatures are usually quite cool and there have been a number of wet races in the past, which means that the Cinturato Green intermediates and Cinturato Blue wet tyres might also make an appearance. In addition, Pirelli will also bring two sets per car of a prototype medium tyre, which features a revised rear construction that is likely to be used for the rest of the season, for use on Friday only.

Paul Hembery: “Canada is always one of the most unpredictable races of the year and this is partly because it is so challenging for tyres, mostly due to the heavy braking and traction demands of the circuit. Coupled with a high degree of track evolution over the weekend, effective tyre management has always been a key to success in Montreal, right from when the circuit was inaugurated in the late 1970s. We’d expect two to three pit stops per car, but we’ll only be able to make a precise forecast after Friday once we’ve seen some running out on track. It’s a circuit where weather conditions often play a key role: our very first Canadian Grand Prix in 2011 actually turned out to be the longest race in Formula One history because of heavy rain and a subsequent race stoppage. Last year was dry, but we witnessed a new record with the seventh winner from seven races. Because of the high degree of tyre wear and degradation, we would expect to see a number of different strategies at work, as was the case last year – with teams deciding whether to go for a ‘sprint’ strategy or to do fewer stops and put the accent on endurance. Last year the ‘sprint’ approach won the race, but with so many different parameters at work, the teams will have to analyse the data – not to mention the weather forecast – very carefully before committing to any particular tactics. Often a flexible approach works best in Canada, so we can also expect many teams to be leaving their options open, allowing the drivers to really make the difference when it counts.”

Jean Alesi: “Canada will always be an incredibly special place for me, because of course it’s where I won the race in 1995, driving for Ferrari, with the number of Gilles Villeneuve: number 27. It’s hard to describe the emotion, but it was just an amazing feeling of joy and an incredible atmosphere, with the crowd running onto the track afterwards… Canada is always a place where the fans are absolutely fantastic; it’s a great feeling to go to a country where Formula One is embraced so enthusiastically. For a driver it is a really big challenge too: as so many of the grandstands are close to the track and the walls are very close as well, so it feels a bit like Monaco in some ways. But of course it’s a lot faster than Monaco and this is why it is challenging for the tyres as well. The main characteristic is acceleration and braking: you cover a really wide range of speeds from flat-out on the straight to very slow corners. It’s important to manage the tyres properly and have a good strategy to cope with these demands. I think we’re in for a fantastic race, this is a grand prix I always really look forward to.”

The circuit from a tyre point of view:

Along with Singapore, Korea and Monaco, Canada has a very high safety car probability. This is one of the reasons why a flexible strategy often pays dividends there. A safety car can change the complexion of a race entirely – and while this wasn’t the case in Monaco two weeks ago, in Canada there are many more opportunities for overtaking.

The race winner last year (Lewis Hamilton) stopped twice, while the second and third placed finishers stopped only once. The strategies all the way down the top 10 were half and half: five out of the top 10 stopped twice and the other five stopped once. Last year was a different tyre nomination though: soft and supersoft.

With a semi-permanent track that is not used extensively during the year, there’s a risk of graining. This occurs when a cold tyre that is not up to temperature slides excessively against the track surface instead of finding grip, and causing an unusual pattern of wear. This phenomenon is mostly seen at the start of the weekend when the track is at its most slippery, without any rubber laid down.

Further information on Canada and the demands it places on the tyres, as well as more information about how graining occurs, can be found on a 3D animated video starring Pirelli’s Racing Manager Mario Isola. This is copyright-free for media use on Pirelli’s Formula One website: www.pirelli.com/f1pressarea

Technical tyre notes:

One of the reasons why Canada is so demanding for the tyres is that the cars tend to run low downforce to maximise their speed on the straights. This means that the tyres are doing all the work when it comes to getting the car round the corners, putting the emphasis on mechanical rather than aerodynamic grip.

The rear tyres are particularly challenged at Montreal, due to the heavy traction demands out of slow corners and the hairpin. It’s very easy to produce wheelspin if drivers are too eager on the throttle, which accentuates rear tyre wear. The track is also quite bumpy, which also provokes wheelspin as the rear tyres break traction.

Adding to the punishment for the tyres in Canada are the kerbs: a well-known feature of the track. The kerbs in Canada are high and aggressive, with the cars hitting them at approximately 130kph through the final corner, close to the famous ‘wall of champions’.

The tyre choices so far:

Meet the Pirelli F1 Team: Anna Playford – Formula One tyre engineer

Anna, from Chichester in the United Kingdom, is one of Pirelli’s 15-strong squad of engineers that travel to every grand prix. This year, the team that she has been assigned to is Williams. During grand prix weekends she acts as the link between the team and Pirelli.

Her job at the track predominately consists of looking after the Pirelli products and making sure that the tyres run within the parameters that have been set. As well as monitoring tyre performance and characteristics in real time, she analyses additional tyre-related data (such as pressures, temperatures and wear). All this information is put into a daily report presented to the team at their evening meetings. This report helps the team make further decisions regarding their race strategy and set-up for the following sessions.

Away from races, Anna is based at Pirelli’s technical hub in the UK, known as the DTC (Didcot Technical Centre). While there, she continues to go through data from the race weekend, producing reports for Pirelli HQ in Milan as well as preparing for the upcoming events. Anna is also involved in some R&D projects there, as well as the development of tools which enables Pirelli to continuously upgrade the service that is provided to the teams.

Currently Anna is the only female engineer in the line-up, having been inspired to get into Formula One through her father. She then studied motorsport engineering at college, joining Pirelli in 2011.

Away from work, Anna enjoys spending time with family and friends – as well as fitting in some essential shopping opportunities…

Other news from Pirelli:

The second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series, which is exclusively equipped by Pirelli for race versions of roadgoing supercars, took place at Silverstone the weekend before the Canadian Grand Prix. Darren Turner, Frederic Makowiecki and Stefan Mucke dominated the race for Aston Martin and clinched the victory in a Aston Martin V12 vantage

The second round of the British Rally Championship – another series exclusively supplied by Pirelli – also took place last weekend at the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland, named after the legendary Formula One World Champion. Last year’s Pirelli UK Star Driver Jukka Korhonen won the event with his co-driver Marko Salminen at the wheel of a Pirelli-equipped Citroen DS3.

Pirelli recently celebrated the 20^th anniversary of its close collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano, the largest technical university in Italy, by inviting a number of its students to a driver day at the Vizzola circuit in northern Italy. As well as recruiting several graduates from the university, Pirelli also undertakes some research projects jointly with the Politecnico each year.

ends

Milan, 31 May 2013: Formula One Tyre supplier Pirelli addressed a Press Conference here at 1pm with facility for journalists to attend through conference calls and made a sincere effort to clear the doubts about the testing it did with Mercedes AMG Petronas before the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Tyre major said in a Press Release later in the evening: “Pirelli, in development testing with teams carried out in 2013, has not favoured any teams and, as always, acted professionally, with transparency and in absolute good faith. The tyres used were not from the current championship but belonged to a range of products still being developed in view of an eventual renewal of the supply contract. Further, none of the tests were carried for the purpose of enhancing specific cars, but only to test tyre solutions for future championships. The use of the car utilized by Mercedes, in particular, was the result of direct communication between FIA and the team itself. Pirelli did not ask in any way that a 2013 car be used: not of Mercedes nor Fia nor the teams which, during the year, were offered the opportunity of participating in tests for the development of tyres for 2014. The tyres that will be tested by the teams in the free practice at the Montreal Grand Prix have never been used by the teams before.  With regard to the new tyres, the problem of delamination has been solved by Pirelli’s technicians exclusively through laboratory testing. Delamination, which only occurred on four occasions and always because of on-track detritus, has never put the drivers’ safety at risk, but does risk harming Pirelli’s image. This is why the company decided to intervene.  

The release further said: “With regard to the rules which govern its conduct, the company has always respected the contractual limits which bind it to the FIA, teams and championship’s organizers, and has always respected the principles of sporting loyalty.”

Pirelli, however, feels the need to reaffirm the indisputable need to carry out tests for the development of tyres which are adequate and regulated by rules which are clear and shared by all the interested parties. The company confirms its availability, as communicated to the teams many times in the past, to organize tests for the development of tyres for 2014 with all the teams in the championship.

PIRELLI’S ANSWERS TO FIA

With regard to requests for information received from FIA, Pirelli promptly provided the answers needed to clarify what happened at the tests, as far as its own responsibilities went, it adds.

 DEVELOPMENT TESTS FOR 2014 TYRES WERE OFFERED TO ALL:  NO FAVOURTISM

Pirelli said: The tests were conducted in observance of the contract between Pirelli and FIA, which gives the supplier the possibility of carrying out tests for the development of tyres with each team of up to 1,000 kilometres, without specifying the type of car to be used, nor sanctioning the simultaneous presence of all the teams for the running of the tests. In this regard, Pirelli has since 2010 made it clear that it is neither possible nor useful to carry out this type of test with all the teams simultaneously.  In fact, this type of testing aimed at technological development and researching new solutions, involves many tyres of different types which must be tested with a single car at a time. Testing for championship specifications is different, as occurs in winter testing which require the participation of all the teams, so as to find the most satisfying solutions for all the cars in the competition. For this reason, Pirelli insists on the need for winter testing under conditions which are truly representative of the situations which will be met during the championship.

Already in March 2012, Pirelli sent an email to all the teams, Fia and Fom, inviting the teams to indicate their availability for testing for the development of tyres for 2013. Further, the company explained that it was necessary to conduct the tests with the teams’ cars because it did not have a suitable one of its own (Pirelli has the use of an adapted 2010 Renault and, before that, a 2009 Toyota).

The invitation was subsequently repeated in various official contexts and repeated to some teams last March for the development of tyres for 2014.

For development of 2014 tyres:

The company said: This test, as always, carried out with a single compound never used in a championship, regarded structures not in use in the current season and not destined to be used later during the 2013 season. The tyre tests were conducted “in the dark”, which means that the teams had no information on which specifications were being tested or about the goal of the testing; nor did they receive any type of information afterwards.

Further, the tests did not regard delamination in any way, as that problem was dealt with and resolved by Pirelli’s technicians through laboratory tests, with the support of data gathered during the first races of the season.

Pirelli always asked for representative cars, that is, with performances comparable to those of the cars being used in the championship underway, without ever referring to those effectively used in the 2013 races.

The release further continued:

The Barcelona test was conducted in cooperation with Mercedes between May 15 and May 17, 2013. The teams made available one car and two first tier drivers, who alternated at the wheel on different days.

The trials were done with a base compound, not in use this year, and 12 different structures which had never been used in 2013, only one of which with kevlar.

The team did not obtain any advantage with regard to knowledge of the behaviour of the tyres in use in the current championship.

The type of car used during the tests was the subject of direct discussions between Mercedes and FIA, as shown in the exchange of emails between the team and Pirelli. In particular, Mercedes informed Pirelli that its 2011 car could not be used and that it had already contacted Fia regarding the use of the 2013 car. There is no doubt that the questions relating to the vehicle were the exclusive domain of the team and that Pirelli was excluded from these questions (notwithstanding Pirelli’s need, from a technical point of view, to have a representative car in terms of impact on the performance of the tyres).

To confirm that this was an ordinary development test and not aimed at specific interventions, Pirelli made no specific requests about the drivers or about the tye of Mercedes staff that would be present during the tests and had fielded its normal team for development testing.

EXPERIMENTAL TYRES FOR THE CANADA GP NEVER USED BEFORE

The tyres with the new structures in kevlar which will be given to the teams during the free practice at the Montreal Grand Prix will for the first time be track tested, following laboratory development. The new tyres have overcome the problem of delamination. This phenomenon in no manner compromises the drivers’ safety but risks damaging the company’s image. At the Canada tests, the teams will have the opportunity to express their opinions and make observations.

NO CHANGE TO THE “DURATION” OF THE TYRES

Pirelli, ready as it is to make changes at any moment, has made no modifications that effect the duration of the tyres and, consequently, on the number of pit stops during the race because of a lack of unanimity of the part of the teams.

ends