Pirelli change tyre compounds for Valencia

2011 European Grand Prix

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Pirelli tyres, Istanbul, 2011

Pirelli has changed the choice of tyre compounds available at this weekend’s European Grand Prix.

The teams will be allocated sets of the medium and soft tyres for this weekend’s race, instead of the medium and super-soft tyre, as previously announced.

The more conservative tyre selection could reduce the number of pit stops drivers need to make during the race.

Motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “Tyre wear on this circuit is likely to be quite high because of the track layout, the nature of the surface, and also the weather conditions, which should be very warm.

“For all these reasons, we’ve selected the medium and soft tyres, which should provide the teams with a good level of resistance, plenty of different opportunities for strategy and about a second per lap difference between the compounds.”

Pirelli will also introduce a revised medium compound tyre at the European Grand Prix this weekend.

It is the first time the medium tyre has been used for a race this year, and the compound used will be the new one tested in practice in Canada.

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    Keith Collantine
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    21 comments on “Pirelli change tyre compounds for Valencia”

    1. Pirelli will also introduce a revised medium compound tyre at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.

      I think you mean the European grand prix there Keith :)

      1. I think he just modified the Canadian GP tyre allocation template and left the phrase there.

        Either way it should be modified.

        1. Maybe it means the FIA is going to have another Canadian GP?

          Now there’s some administrative incompetence I can get behind!

          1. Error by the FIA in your favour! Go back to start, do not collect £200! :D

      2. Fixed, thanks.

    2. “The more conservation tyre selection”
      *”conservative”?

    3. Not happy as a Ferrari fan, because the softer the tyres, the better the F150th.

      Should be interesting though. Slightly more chance for Lewis who is going to massacre his tyres later.

      1. But since the heat is cited as reason, that might offset the effect. I agree that Ferrari will quite likely have some reservations about it, but let’s see.

      2. i hope he massacres his tyres on the tarmac, not on other driver’s sidepods :-).

    4. Not sure what to make of it but only the race will tell if it’s the right choice.

      It will hurt Ferrari too.

      1. A very noughty part of me wants them to have just as great a race as last year, just to hear Alonso and the horse ranter say as crazy things again.

        But seriously, I would like the Ferrari to have a good race non the less.

        1. 2008 and 2009 provided good results, with Massa and Barrichello winning respectively. Hopefully 2011 will see a second Massa victory.

          1. Barrichello wasn’t driving a Ferrari.

      2. Adrian Morse
        20th June 2011, 21:06

        Not sure this allocation is worse for Ferrari. If the supersoft would last less than 10 laps, for instance, then they would have to run half the race on the medium tyre (which was the trouble in Spain – Alonso’s pace was at least acceptable as long as he could run the soft tyre), whereas now they might be able to get away with just the last 15 laps.

        1. In Spain it was the hard compound on which Ferrari suffered. In Valencia the medium tyre is going to be used. It does make a difference.

          The medium tyre is the same in terms of grip only its durability and other parameters have been tweaked – someone said in Canada during the test.

          Alonso also said in Canada during the test that he felt comfortable with the new medium compound and had no problem whatsoever.

          We will probably have to wait until Q3 to know if that’s true.

          1. On the ‘tweak’ I meant the tweak Pirelli have done with the medium compound before Canada.

    5. Pirelli will also introduce a revised medium compound tyre at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.

      I’m sure it’s Europe.

    6. And there I was thinking that all the rule and technical changes made F1 more interesting. Stupid me.

      1. I’m inclined to agree!

        This is a formula, after all.

        I can’t think of any other sport where the teams bend the rules so much and manage to circumvent them altogether sometimes. This does need to be controlled however, mainly because of costs.

        F1 is an incredibly complex sport. You cannot possibly devise a rule to suit every eventuality and every development so as a result it’s a living, breathing beast.

        Perhaps some people find that disconcerting. I find that exciting. The rules are all over the place from one year to the next but take pride in that folks, no other sport is set out to redefine itself so vividly and still make things exciting and move forward.

    7. None of this says why they thought Super Soft would be the go to begin with, and why they changed their mind.

      1. Turkey changed their minds. The race in Istanbul saw something like eighty-two pit stops, which a lot of people thought was too much. Pirelli think the optimal number of stops for a race is two. They’re trying to balance the tyre allocations and reformulate the tyre compounds to encourage two stop races as standard for everyone, but allow variations in strategy.

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