Tag: paul hembery

2013 Young Driver’s Test – FIA set out the rules

Formula 1’s govering body, the FIA, has announced that it will send its own observers to this month’s young driver’s test.

The recent Mercedes-tyregate debacle has prompted the FIA to appoint a ‘security guard’ to ensure that no current race drivers do any work on car development. On the back of multiple tyre failures at the British grand prix the governing body changed testing regulations to allow for the regular race drivers to help out with the tyre work at the test. The Silverstone grand prix circuit will be used from July 17 – 19 for the test.

However, the FIA has stipulated that no current race driver will be only be allowed to work on an emergency testing programme for tyre manufacturer Pirelli. The observers will scrutinise the running programs of every team to ensure that all development work is done by the ‘young’ driver who still be present at the test.

Pirelli also has two further private tests planned in the coming weeks for which the FIA have told Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hembery, that it would be willing to allow the tyre company to use a 2013 car if required.

July 3, 2013
F1 2013: British GP Review – Rosberg tops at dramatic Silverstone

Formula 1 in 2013 hasn’t been short of drama but it well and truly ramped up for the eighth round of the season at Britain’s Silverstone grand prix.

It was home-grown hero Lewis Hamilton who thrashed the field to take only his second pole position at the famous circuit. The margin between the 2008 champion and teammate Rosberg was the biggest it had been all season as Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid. Sebastian Vettel was ever present in third ahead of retiring teammate, Mark Webber.

Force India’s Paul Di Resta delivered an excellent lap for fifth but would later be excluded from qualifying for an underweight car. The Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari of Fernando Alonso seemed to struggle in qualifying trim as the duo only managed to start eighth and ninth.

Lewis Hamilton led cleanly away from pole position as Vettel slotted into third ahead of Rosberg. Mark Webber’s race was made a lot tougher after a clash with Romain Grosjean left the Australian with damage to the front-wing. A bit of damage to a front-wing would be the least dramatic issue of the day.

Lewis Hamilton easily in the lead of the race and steadily building a gap over Vettel would become the first driver to suffer a left rear tyre blowout. The Pirelli tyre seemed to completely disintegrate without any indication whatsoever. Somehow Hamilton was able to return his Mercedes to the pits but his chances of victory had been thrown out the window.

It looked like horrible luck for Hamilton until two laps later Felipe Massa’s Ferrari suffered the exact same failure. Jean-Eric Vergne became the third driver to suffer a tyre blow-out on lap 15 as his left rear spectacularly exploded on the Hangar straight.

The Toro Rosso driver’s tyre failure brought out the safety car as debris from the blowout littered the circuit. McLaren’s Sergio Perez would be the final driver to suffer an identical tyre blow-out on lap 46. At this point drivers were being told to avoid the kerbs in case they were the cause for the tyre problems. But Fernando Alonso didn’t share the same opinion after the race. “I have been racing here 12 years & never had this problem (tyre). I think the kerbs were perfectly ok,” said the Ferrari driver.

Racing resumed on lap 22 with no certainty of whose Pirelli could fail next but there was still a race to be had as Vettel led Rosberg over the start/finish line. The Red Bull driver extended his advantage over Rosberg to two seconds but the Mercedes driver was gradually starting chip away at his lead. Rosberg wasn’t required to do much more work in catching Vettel as the reigning world champion’s car grinded to a halt at the pit entry with a gearbox failure.

The stricken Red Bull prompted another safety car and Rosberg, Webber and Alonso dived into the pitlane for a fresh set of medium tyres. The only front-running driver not to take a fresh set of tyres was Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen was running second when he asked his team why they had not called him into the pits for fresh tyres. The Lotus pitwall had roughly half a lap behind the safety car to decide on a pitstop but responded to Raikkonen’s question with “I don’t know” and “It’s too late now.” On a day when championship leader Vettel failed to score any points the Lotus pitwall destroyed what could have been a significant gain in the championship stakes. Raikkonen eventually finished fifth, defenceless on hard tyres he had put on twenty laps earlier. It is on moments like this that championships are lost and won.

Mark Webber’s announcement of his retirement at the end of the season sent the rumours of Raikkonen joining the Red Bull team into overdrive. Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has said that they are doing everything they can to keep the Finn in the team. He believes that the ‘atmosphere’ within the team is enough to make Raikkonen stay put – it isn’t. During his two year hiatus from Formula 1 the Iceman let it be known that he is only interested in winning races – not fighting for second. The doubt is whether Lotus can consistently deliver up to that standard. Mistakes such as this will surely make Raikkonen’s decision to stay or leave a lot less difficult. Lotus are a good team but many suggest that the only thing making them great is Kimi Raikkonen. Since his return to Formula 1 he hasn’t put a wheel wrong and he has rekindled a kind of speed and driving class second to none. Give this guy what he needs and he will win you a world championship. Lotus’ mistakes could be more costly than they expect.

Mark Webber, recovered from front-wing damage, charged through the field in the closing laps to within seven tenths of race leader Rosberg. Similarly, Fernando Alonso’s fresh tyres allowed him pass several cars and finish third overall. Fernando Alonso was happy to salvage third place on a weekend where Ferrari look decidedly off the pace but called on his team to ‘raise their game’ in the coming races.

Nico Rosberg inherited the lead of the race but he won the British GP on pure merit. Never putting a wheel wrong he soaked up the late-race pressure from Webber like a pro. Career victory number three was well deserved for the most improved driver of 2013.

The Pirelli tyregate saga took a very dramatic turn during the British GP prompting the teams to angrily demand answers from the Italian tyre supplier. So serious was the tyre situation that race director Charlie Whiting admitted post-race that he was close to putting out the red flag.

Paul Hembery has failed to appear at press conferences at the last two races but at some point Pirelli and their motorsport director will have to face the music. Pirelli have been invited, by FIA President Jean Todt, to attend the Sporting Working Committee meeting at the Nurburgring next week in order to find a solution to the tyre problems.

The teams are now pushing for next month’s young driver’s test to be scrapped in favour of a fully fledged tyre test.

July 1, 2013
F1 2013 News – Pirelli: No new tyres for Silverstone

Italian tyre manufacturer and Formula 1 supplier Pirelli have announced that it will not run new rear tyres at the British grand prix.

A change isn’t going to come after all. Pirelli had been looking for a solution for delamination suffered by drivers this season and opted for a tyre test, this one above board, during the free practice sessions in Canada. The weather conditions in Montreal limited the running that could be done on the experimental tyre and the decision was taken to postpone any modification to the current tyres.

“We are not going to race with the new tyre as we did not get much of a chance to test it here [in Canada],” said Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery. “We have some internal specification changes – process changes – that we think will go the full way to curing the delamination issue that we have seen. That is good from many points of view, as it means teams will be working with the same tyre they started the year with.But it is probably not good for some teams that are struggling with the front tyre.”

To combat the delamination Pirelli will introduce a revised bonding procedure to the current tyres in the hopes that the tread remains affixed.

June 13, 2013
Ross Brawn puts his head on the chopping block in Pirelligate

A very interesting team principal press conference followed the second practice session ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix today.

Most notably, Ross Brawn revealed that it was him who made the decision to go ahead with the controversial Pirelli tyre testing in Barcelona following the Spanish Grand Prix.

Playing it very cool, calm and collected, Ross stated, “”It was my decision to do the testing, that is a fact, and let’s see what happens at tribunal and we go from there.”

The Brackley-based Mercedes F1 team is to face an FIA disciplinary hearing at the International Tribunal later this month to answer charges that it may have broken Formula 1 regulations by using its W04 2013 car during the Pirelli test.

Brawn was also quick to state that there was nothing “secret” about the test but that it was merely a “private” test.

Ross seemed very confident, almost as though he has an Ace or two up his sleeve. He was not willing to divulge why the team is so certain that it is in the clear after testing their 2013 car with Pirelli, but he said that he is eager for the facts of the case to come out so that Mercedes can clear its name.

“I wouldn’t say it is very pleasant at the moment but again I am comfortable and confident that once when we get to the tribunal the facts will become apparent and people can make a better judgement.”

“I think we would not have done the Pirelli test unless we believed we could do the Pirelli test. When we get to the tribunal you will have your answers,” he said.

Pirelli boss Paul Hembery, meanwhile, was absent from the press conference following advice from Pirelli lawyers not to attend.

June 7, 2013
Monaco F1 Grand Prix Preview Quotes: Pirelli

Here is what Pirelli have to say ahead of this weekend’s Monaco F1 Grand Prix.

Paul Hembery: “In Monaco we’d expect an average of two pit stops per car, because in complete contrast to the last race at Barcelona, Monaco has very low tyre wear and degradation. This doesn’t make the race any less strategic however, as in the past we have seen drivers trying completely different strategies yet ending up very close to each other at the finish.

“The last race in Spain was won from lower down on the grid than it has ever been won before, so it will be interesting to see if this pattern can repeat itself in Monaco: a track that is renowned for being difficult to overtake on. Because of this, strategy will become even more important than usual, with teams trying to use tactics to improve on their starting positions.”

May 21, 2013
F1 2013: Pirelli tyre plans reigned in by FIA

Pirelli’s planned ‘tweaks’ to the 2013 tyres from the Canadian GP onwards has been reigned in by the FIA.

A ruling made by the sport’s governing body has stipulated that it will only allow changes to be made to the tyres on the grounds of safety. As a result the expected changes will be less significant that intially planned.

The FIA has clearly stated that it will not accept changes aimed at cutting down on the number of pitstops much less to reduce tyre degradation. Instead of reverting back to 2012 specification tyres Pirelli have been instructed to make adjustment to the current specification of tyres.

Article 12.6.3 of the technical regulations have been cited by the FIA with regard to their decision. The rule states:

“Tyre specifications will be determined by the FIA no later than 1 September of the previous season. Once determined in this way, the specification of the tyres will not be changed during the championship season without the agreement of all competing teams.”

There is however a different clause within the regulations which states that changes could be introduced “if the tyres are deemed by the tyre supplier and technical delegate as technically unsuitable.” But the FIA is adamant that the current ‘issues’ with the 2013 tyres falls within the purview of this rule.

Pirelli motosport director Paul Hembery admitted that the changes to the tyres would now be of a more modest nature. “Let’s wait and see exactly what changes we will be making, but we are doing everything we can to minimise what will be different,” he said.

The prospective changes were expected to benefit teams such as Mercedes and Red Bull who have been struggling to get on top of the tyres. In contrast, Ferrari and Lotus will breathe a sigh of relief as they look to maintain their tyre advantage.

May 19, 2013
A change is gonna come – Pirelli to change tyres from Canada

Pirelli have announced that it will make changes to its tyres from the Canadian grand prix onwards.

This announcement comes after a raft of criticism has been aimed at the Italian manufacturer. Several teams have voiced their unhappiness about the excessiveness of the tyre degradation.

The Spanish grand prix saw four stop strategies implemented by the majority of the field.Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery told AUTOSPORT: “We never intended for there to be four-stop races, so we are going to make construction changes to the tyres.

“We will be taking some of the design of the 2013 tyres, but also some of the elements of the 2011 and 2012 products that served us so well during that period. We want to go back to having two or three stop races.”

Pirelli’s inexperience in the highly competitive world seems to have found them out. Hembery admitted that they had understimated the increase in performance the cars would make from year to year.

“They have basically been stressing everything far too much, and probably we underestimated the performance,” he said. “We cannot test with the current cars, and all we have access to is a 2010 Renault that laps four or five seconds slower than the current F1 cars do on a Sunday.”

Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hembery.

Revisions to the structure of the tyres will be made along with possible changes to compounds. When asked about the possibility of the changes shaking up the competitive order Hembery responded with relative certainty that all should remain as is. “There have been concerns from some of the teams that the changes will favour one team or another, but we don’t think that will be the case,” he said.

May 16, 2013