Pirelli motorsport director Mario Isola says it has achieved “most” of the targets set for its 2019 tyre but admits there are areas where it still needs to improve.
The official Formula 1 tyre supplier’s objectives for its rubber are set out in a ‘target letter’ agreed with the FIA and FOM.“The current targets are defining a level of delta lap time between compounds [and] a level of degradation,” Isola explained when asked by RaceFans. “And if I look at the first eight races we are very close to the targets.
“The other request was to have less of overheating and from last year we have less overheating. As I said we can improve, but we have less overheating.
“Last year we had an issue with the delta lap time between soft, super-soft, ultra-soft were too close, now we have the right space in between compounds. That’s why I’m saying that most of the targets have been achieved.”
A proposal to bring back last year’s tyres failed to win the support of a sufficient number of teams during the Austrian Grand Prix. Isola said the move would have led to an increase in blistering.
“We never tested the 2018 [tyre] specification on 2019 cars,” he said. “The 2019 car is different from last year’s car. The aero package is different, there is a different balance in terms of downforce front to rear. So we are not 100 percent sure that the 2018 specification is working well on the 2019 car.
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“I would say that probably the level of blistering and overheating [would be] a lot more because they are quicker, they are heavier than last year. So there is no element that is going in the direction to reduce it.”
“Provided that we work together, we don’t make anything that is dangerous or bad for the image of the company, we are always available to discuss any solution any idea any improvement,” he said.
“I don’t care if it is during the year, for next year. If it is during the year there is a regulation that says that we need at least 70 percent of the teams in agreement to change the specification, that is clear. Or we can send the request for a safety issue. But if there is no safety issue and the current product has no safety issue we cannot send any request.
“If there is a sensible idea to change something that could be the specification, the sporting rules the allocation of the, set any of these that can be good for the sport and that is with the agreement with the FIA, FOM and the teams we are always available to consider that and to implement that.”
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F1oSaurus (@)
8th July 2019, 8:04
So which target(s) did they admit to not having met fully?
Mog
8th July 2019, 8:15
Tyres that nobody can reliably use. Check.
I know pirelli are a good tyre manufacfurer but f1 spec tyres are a hiding to nothing. It damages their image regardless of how well they meet the mandate
F1oSaurus (@)
8th July 2019, 15:08
That’s not a target.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
8th July 2019, 15:23
@f1osaurus They had aimed for a wider operating window yet ended up with a narrower one.
It’s a frustration that most teams/drivers have had for several years as Pirelli regularly talk about improving the working range yet never manage to do so. Another frustration along similar lines is that the slower cars always struggle more in that regard, Especially as they are having to slow down while been lapped.
F1oSaurus (@)
8th July 2019, 18:53
@gt-racer Sure, but the point is more that the title of the article indicates that Pirelli is fessing up which targets they faiuled to make, while the article itself only has Pirelli quotes stating they pretty much reached all their targets.
Robbie (@robbie)
8th July 2019, 22:01
Pretty much but not quite from what I’m reading into it. Could improve the overheating issue, could improve the deg, could improve the delta time between compounds. But they claim to be close but could put more work into those things. Of course as @gt-racer points out they are glaringly ignoring the issue of the ridiculously narrow operating window.
MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
8th July 2019, 13:07
The 2019 tires are the best pirelli have ever produced for F1. Some graining early in the year, but they have performed very well in the last 3 races under extremely hot conditions.
Imre (@f1mre)
8th July 2019, 18:45
They should make very durable tyres where tyre saving does not exist. All the races are one-stoppers so there is no point having tyre degradation.
And/Or tracks should have as short pits as possible to lower pitstop times. Not those ridiculous ones like in France…
F1oSaurus (@)
8th July 2019, 18:54
@f1mre F1 tried that, but then there were almost no overtakes anymore during the whole race.
Robbie (@robbie)
8th July 2019, 22:04
When they last had more durable tires, clean air dependence was just as much a problem, so it doesn’t matter as much the tires since both the lead driver and the trailing driver are on the same. What holds true no matter the tire is that cars too dependent on clean air lose too much performance in dirty air. Of course these days the fronts also suffer from the trailing car moving around in dirty air.
Imre (@f1mre)
9th July 2019, 20:18
I’d expect more mistakes. Without tyre saving they could push more than now. Maybe that would lead to more mistakes.
Imre (@f1mre)
9th July 2019, 20:20
This is true but we didn’t have DRS back then. And nowadays the majority of overtakes are due to DRS. You need 2-3 seconds a lap speed difference to have a chance without DRS.