Formula 1’s official tyre supplier Pirelli has decided against limiting drivers’ stint lengths this weekend despite the failures seen in Sunday’s race at Silverstone.
Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz Jnr all suffered similar failures of their front-left tyres in the closing stages of the previous round.F1 is racing at the same venue this weekend but in hotter conditions and with softer tyres. Pirelli has imposed new operating limits on the teams in a bid to prevent further failures.
But despite stating stint lengths were a contributing factor in the failures seen last week, Pirelli has opted not to restrict teams’ mileage on its tyres this weekend.
“The reason why we decided not to impose mileage limitations to the teams is that each car is different, each driver is different,” said Pirelli’s head of motorsport Mario Isola. “And one of the important things in Formula 1 now for the show is the possibility for the teams to plan different strategies.
“If we have to suggest or define limitations in the number of laps for each compound it means that we bring all the teams towards planning the same strategy. That is not in the target for the show.
“What we did is to give clear information to teams from our engineers in order to make them aware of our findings, the result of the analysis and useful information to make their plans for this weekend. But not to limit the number of laps.”
The softer compounds Pirelli has brought this weekend will prompt most teams to pit twice, and potentially even three times, says Isola.
“I believe that that two-stop strategy will be the baseline for this weekend because looking at the average numbers, it is what we found, especially during second practice. But each one can decide if they want to use a mix of hard, medium or soft, or maybe move even to a three-stop strategy.
“Three-stop on the paper is not the quickest solution. I believe it would be difficult to see a three-stop. But we can see a good number of permutations on the two-stop using all the three compounds and that is probably good for the show this weekend.
“Limiting the number [of laps would] mean that we are going to define the strategy that can be used by the teams.”
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J_Olivier
8th August 2020, 8:15
Well, Pirelli’s job is not to write the script for “the show”, is to provide useful tyres, if they can’t then they should look after the safety of their clients.
S
8th August 2020, 8:53
Pirelli just said they will not ‘write the script for the show’ by defining maximum usage limits – they will leave it up to the teams to manage the tyres themselves.
Exactly as you would hope.
BasCB (@bascb)
8th August 2020, 9:26
That is exactly what Pirelli is doing. They were requested (by F1) to provide these softer ranges of tyres for this event (see ) and since it is now clear that there might be an issue with their durability, since they aren’t that well suited to the track, especially with hte heat we are having right now.
So Pirelli considered solving the safety risk by putting a clear limit on the stint, a limit that would obviously be well within the limit of the tyres as used on the Mercedes. But would be quite early for most others, and would mean the teams don’t have freedom to decide on their strategy:
So instead of taking away choice, they will just resort to intensive cooperation with the teams to make sure everyone has all the data available to be able to make informed strategy desicions.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
8th August 2020, 8:24
Good the teams have plenty of data and the drivers should be able to pick when the tyres are starting to change, tactics and skill will show.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
8th August 2020, 8:53
there is no strategy anyway. pit as late as possible in order to avoid an undercut and that’s it.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
8th August 2020, 15:40
@peartree sounds like a strategy to me…
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
9th August 2020, 10:17
SadF1fan
8th August 2020, 9:27
The fact that F1 was even considering it, shows you how broken F1 really is.
Why does everyone need to be babied with the tires. Its very simple these are the tires, they blister and vibrate before they do poof. Learn how to use them and good luck.
Instead of giving a manual every race, the maximum pressure can be such, the maximum camber and toe such, and the maximum mileage is so and so.
F1 has become a rubbertile society, where nobody is allowed to trip up and hurt itsself. F1 has become the least attacking iteration in decades, where the most important factor is saving the car…
SadF1fan
8th August 2020, 9:45
The fact that F1 was even considering it, shows you how broken F1 really is.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
8th August 2020, 12:38
So true.
Regardless of who’s to blame the current tyres are simply awful & have been since 2011 when F1 decided it wanted to become an artificial, gimmick ridden show rather than the pinnacle of the sport.
It’s no wonder it’s popularity has fallen off a cliff since the pirelli cliff was introduced.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
8th August 2020, 11:17
I take it none of the teams have been experiencing the cuts in tyres that we saw last weekend? Because the tyres didn’t just fail due to running out of tread – the fact that they were low on tread probably contributed by weakening the tyres, but the actual failures were caused by the cuts. And as far as the official conclusion went, Pirelli didn’t point the blame at curbs or debris, so presumably there’s a chance that they could reoccur this weekend, but I haven’t heard any info on that from the practice sessions.
S
8th August 2020, 12:25
The three failures (Mercs and Sainz) were not caused by cuts, according to Pirelli.
They stated it was a combination of high stresses and long stint length. No mention of cuts at any stage by Pirelli.
And Kvyat’s was a brake issue that caused the wheel to overheat and melt the bead on the tyre.
So, with softer tyres stint lengths will be shorter, which means less prolonged stress on the tyre carcass. It would be safe to assume that the same failures will not occur this week – even if for no other reason than the teams will be more cautious this time with the knowledge they gained from last week.
XMG (@)
8th August 2020, 11:31
Anyone else read this as, “we are no longer doing this, because when the tyres fail sooner than we predicted we look like fools”?
AliceD (@aliced)
8th August 2020, 12:12
Haha, did not think of it this way, but you are right.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
8th August 2020, 12:40
So I guess it’s going to turn into another extreme tyre management show where we get to enjoy watching drivers not pushing all race, Not been especially challenged or stressed all day with cars looking about as spectacular driving around slowly as a mobility scooter.
Formula tyre is in a pathetic state right now.
I just wish Formula 1 would actually come back because the artificial gimmick ridden mess we have now certainly isn’t Formula 1.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
8th August 2020, 15:43
Imre (@f1mre)
8th August 2020, 13:23
Next step: Don’t set tyre pressure limits.