Mario Isola tells us about the tyre choices ahead of the 2013 Korean Grand Prix and tells us more about the stresses the Pirelli P-Zero Racing tyres undergo during use.
Tag: pirelli
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F1 2013: Korean GP Preview: F1 knuckles down in Korea
Speed, glamour and exotic locations are everyday associations with Formula 1. But F1 is also considered as the most advanced racing series in the world. These advances include revolutionary technological innovation and taking the sport to all corners of the globe.
There is no genuinely substantial connection between South Korea and motorsport however it did not detract from the construction of a world class racing venue. The Yeongam International Circuit has proven to be a diamond in the rough.
The circuit layout is a perfect blend of medium to high-speed corners with a distinct street track feel to the barrier lined final sector. “It’s a somewhat technical course, one that rewards precision more than it does commitment, so the main challenge comes from dialing the car into the track, which is satisfying when you get it right because there’s a lot of time to be had from running a well-balanced car,” said McLaren’s Sergio Perez.The first sector of the lap is typified by long straights which translate to opportunities for overtaking. The entries to turns One and Three are the best prospects for overtaking at this weekend’s Korean GP before the tight and twisting nature of the rest of the lap dictates far fewer chances.
The race will be run over 55 laps under usually changeable conditions. When the rain comes down around these parts it has been known to reach monsoon levels. The inaugural race in 2010 was red flagged after only a handful of laps behind the safety car.
Sebastian Vettel has won the last two Korean GP and would have made it a hat trick had his Red Bull not given up the ghost in 2010. There is very little to suggest that the German will not be ahead of the pack this weekend. Team Principal Christian Horner has tried to play down Vettel’s dominant display in Singapore as a “once off” but it is hard to believe that Red Bull will suddenly have to fight tooth and nail for victory. Nevertheless, the Yeongam circuit does have attributes to it that has not suited Red Bull in the past – long straights.
Ferrari and Fernando Alonso will need a bit of luck on their side if they are to make inroads into the gigantic lead held by Sebastian Vettel. Alonso will want to beat his fierce rival in a straight out fight but something extraordinary has to happen if the Spaniard is going to truly be in contention for the title. That something extraordinary could be Red Bull’s less than stellar reliability this season. Mark Webber suffered a mechanical failure in Singapore and both cars were nursed to the finish of the Italian GP.
Mark Webber will start this weekend on the back foot after incurring a ten place grid penalty in Singapore for running onto the circuit during the cool down lap and hitching a ride back to the pits with Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen also heads to the Korean GP with question marks around his fitness. Raikkonen was hampered by back pain in Singapore and will use the first free practice session of Friday to assess the issue.The possible appearance of Typhoon Fitow has cast some doubt whether the race will be run as scheduled. However, accurately predicting the weather pattern remains a dark and mysterious art that few seem able to master. The only guaranteed prediction is that Super-storm Seb will undoubtedly be thundering around the Yeongam circuit more voraciously than ever.
Photo Credits
Sergio Perez – Photo by McLarenF1.com
Alonso/Webber lift – F1 Madness screengrab
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Singapore GP Preview Quotes – Pirelli
Here’s what Pirelli motorsport director, Paul Hembery had to say with regards to tyres ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
“The tyres we are bringing to Singapore this year represent a change from last year, when we went for supersoft and soft. This is because the tyres are generally softer across the board this year in order to maximise performance and grip. Singapore is quite bumpy – a typical feature of street circuits – and there’s lots of street furniture such as painted white lines and manholes that compromise grip and traction. We’re racing at night, which presents a unique set of parameters for the tyres to deal with when it comes to the way that track and ambient temperatures evolve. The cars also carry the heaviest fuel load of the year, which again has a direct effect on tyre wear and degradation. It’s a long race, and that gives the teams plenty of scope to come up with some interesting strategies at what is a truly spectacular event in every sense. We’ve always been made to feel incredibly welcome at Singapore, which is probably the most spectacular event of the year in terms of the whole show that is put on for the public. Our aim as always is to contribute to that show by providing tyres with exactly the right compromise between performance and degradation in order to guarantee close racing.” -
2013 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix Pirelli Tyre Preview
Mario Isola, Pirelli’s racing manager explains the difference between the Intermediate and Wet tyre and also tells us about the compounds that Pirelli will bring to this years Singtel Singapore Grand Prix.
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Video: Pirelli Preview for the the 2013 Italian Grand Prix
Mario Isola talks camber and tyre pressures in the run up to the 2013 Italian Grand Prix where Pirelli are bringing the Hard (orange) and Medium (White) compound tyres for the weekend.
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Monza Preview Quotes – Pirelli
Pirelli’s Paul Hembery shares his thoughts about what we can expect from a tyre perspective at their home race.
Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director“Monza is obviously our home race, only around half an hour away from our headquarters in Milan. It’s very easy to see why the place has been called ‘the temple of speed’: it’s actually the quickest circuit that we go to all year, and the long straights and fast corners put plenty of energy through the tyres. This means that overheating and blistering can be a problem if not controlled. So correct tyre management can have a very important effect on the race and the strategy, and this is something that the teams will assess during free practice on Friday. Not only the performance of the tyres is tested here but also the durability, as there are plenty of high-speed impacts with the kerbs, which represent another important aspect of this race. Monza is one of the most popular races of the year, with lots of tifosi, and we are very much looking forward to it.”
Photo by the Dell Twitter Team
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Spa Francorchamps Preview Quotes – Pirelli
Spa is a very challenging circuit as far as tyres are concerned and with all the tyre controversy so far this year Pirelli does not need to be making any mistakes. Here are the Preview Quotes from Pirelli ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
“Spa is not only an epic circuit, but also one of the biggest challenges for our tyres all year. Mostly this is because of the very high-energy loads that go all the way through the tyres, both vertically – due to the big compressions such as Eau Rouge – and also laterally at fast corners like Blanchimont. Often, the tyres are subjected to forces acting in different directions at the same time, which increases the work still further. So looking after the tyres is very important, particularly as it’s such a long lap. This means that there are a very wide variety of possible strategies available at Spa as well, with plenty of time to be won and lost if the right tactics are chosen. However, any strategy has to be very flexible, because it’s the changing weather that often makes Spa such a fascinating race. The conditions can change extremely quickly, which then makes how the teams use the intermediate and wet tyres the key to success – as we have seen so often in the past. Both our wet-weather tyres have proved their performance over previous races; with the intermediate tyre in particular showing how well suited it is even to inconsistent and drying conditions. There are plenty of overtaking opportunities, and the blend of performance and durability offered by our nominated tyres should maximise those chances this weekend.”
Photo by the Dell Twitter Team
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F1 2013: Hungarian GP Race Review – Miracle man Hamilton routs the pack
Ten races into the 2013 Formula 1 season Lewis Hamilton has claimed his first win of the year and the first for his Mercedes team at the Hungarian grand prix.
Red Bull and Mercedes found themselves locked in the battle for pole position on Saturday. 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position from Sebastian Vettel’s grasp by a mere 0.038s. It couldn’t get any closer and it couldn’t have been a more perfect lap for the Brit. Regarded as a qualifying ace, Hamilton has played second fiddle to teammate Rosberg but if the tables were going to turn Hungary is where it would happen. On three occasions Hamilton had won the Hungarian GP. However, all of these victories were behind the wheel of a McLaren. This weekend Hamilton mentioned those who thought he was daft to make the move to Mercedes. He regards his first victory for Mercedes as one the most special of his sparkling career and though he may not say it, he will be enormously satisfied to have proved the non-believers wrong.
While Hamilton had it mostly his own way for all of the seventy laps of the race the battle for the podium positions was anything but straightforward.
Sebastian Vettel barely maintained second place off the starting line before he had to defend against a feisty Romain Grosjean in a somewhat pacier Lotus in the early stages of the race. Despite Grosjean’s best efforts however the notoriously difficult overtaking conditions around the Hungaroring meant he stayed behind the Red Bull driver.Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso made his customary lightening start but could only gain one position to run fourth at the end of the first lap. The afternoon wasn’t one to remember for the Marenello based team as Alonso lacked the pace to fight amongst the frontrunners for the entire race. “We didn’t have the pace. We were too slow with the soft. We were too slow on the medium. We just had no pace,” said a frustrated Alonso.
There is no doubt that as a true championship winning driver Fernando Alonso can be expected to be fighting for this world title until the last possible moment. Questions have always been about how a driver will acclimatise to team, how he will adapt to the DNA of a new car. In Alonso and Ferrari’s situation it’s the opposite. The question is can Ferrari deliver a car that is worthy of Alonso; and if not how much longer can Fernando Alonso be expected to remain loyal to the prancing horse? Ferrari and Fernando Alonso were also fined 15,000 Euro for illegally using DRS three times while not within the prescribed one second range of the car in front.This particular Sunday was all about Lewis Hamilton. Doubts about how Mercedes would fare of the new Pirelli tyres were on the forefront of most people’s minds. In the post qualifying press conference, despite being on pole position, Lewis Hamilton said that it would take ‘a miracle’ for him to win the Hungarian grand prix. However, as the race progressed it was evident that Hamilton was not going to face the immense level of tyre degradation the team had suffered at previous race weekends. Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to enter the pitlane as he swopped his softs for the medium compound tyres on lap nine.
As Vettel encountered a slower Jenson Button after his first pit stop Lewis Hamilton edged the gap out to nearly ten seconds over the Red Bull driver. By the halfway mark of the race it was evident, due to Hamilton’s pace that the three time former winner of the Hungarian GP was not going to be caught.
It set up a fight between the two Red Bull’s and the two-stopping Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn had pitted thirteen laps earlier than Vettel and should have been a sitting duck for Vettel and his fresh rubber. Raikkonen, not a pushover by any stretch of the imagination, held off the German for second place. Raikkonen completed the longest stint of laps on the medium compound – 33 laps in total.Mark Webber put in a fighting drive to recover from tenth on the grid to fourth on Sunday. Fernando Alonso held off Romain Grosjean for fifth in a typically determined drive. Grosjean pulled off a tremendous move around the outside of turn four to overtake Felipe Massa but was later struck with a harsh drive-through penalty for leaving the circuit and gaining an advantage. It went from bad to worse for Grosjean as he was hit with a 20 second post race penalty for a causing a collision with Jenson Button. Nevertheless, Grosjean retains his sixth place finish.
Jenson Button and Felipe Massa finished seventh and eighth respectively while the sister McLaren of Sergio Perez was ninth. Nico Rosberg’s late retirement from the race, which appeared to be engine related, gave Pastor Maldonado tenth place overall and Williams their first point of the 2013 season.
Lewis Hamilton ended his victory drought in great style by taking a dominant fourth victory at the Hugaroring. A first win for Mercedes will undoubtedly by cherished but what was more impressive about Hamilton’s drive was the sheer determination and hunger that practically oozed from the former champ. An on song Lewis Hamilton is a formidable opponent and if Hungary is anything to go by he is far from letting go of this championship without a fight.
Photo credits:
Lewis Hamilton – Photo via Mercedes F1 Twitter Team
Grosjean vs Vettel – Screen grab by F1 Madness Team
Alonso – Screen grab by F1 Madness Team
Raikkonen – Lotus F1 Twitter Team
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Hungarian GP Preview Quotes – Pirelli
Pirelli Preview Quotes for the Hungarian GP.
Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
“Hungary marks the first event for our latest specification P Zero tyres, which consist of the 2012 construction matched to the 2013 compounds. These tyres were tried out by the teams at Silverstone during the young driver test, who benefitted from the opportunity to adapt the set-up of their cars to best suit the new tyres. Now they get to use them in competition for the first time, and with qualifying particularly important at the Hungaroring, the work done in free practice will be very important. Overtaking at this circuit is never an easy task, so the teams will be looking to use strategy to maximise their opportunities to gain track position. The selection of medium and soft tyres should provide plenty of chances to help them do that, based on the data that all the teams gain with different fuel loads in free practice. Temperatures in Hungary can be very high, and this is the other factor on which the levels of wear and degradation experienced will depend. Traction and braking are two critical aspects of tyre performance in Hungary, with the teams running a set-up designed to emphasise these key areas. With levels of lateral energy relatively low, tyre performance rather than durability will be the limiting factor and this will form the basis of the strategy selected – with the teams aiming to keep the tyres within the peak window of operating performance for as long as possible. The design of our latest tyres should help them to do this.”Photo: Pirelli Twitter
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F1 2013: Hungarian GP Preview – Qualifying king at the Hungaroring
After a three week gap the 2013 Formula 1 season restarts with the Hungarian grand prix.
In its own right the Hungarian GP has written its own part in Formula 1 history. The circuit has rewarded Damon Hill (1993), Fernando Alonso (2003) and very memorably Jenson Button (2006) with their first victories in Formula 1.
The first grand prix held at the Hungaroring was the first to be held behind the Iron Curtain. Formula 1 has been frequenting the Hungarian grand prix since 1986 and the Budapest located circuit is a guaranteed staple of a Formula 1 race calendar until 2016.
As a high downforce circuit the Hungaroring is famous for its tight and twisting nature. The dusty track surface confirms how little action the track sees which makes track evolution at the Hungaroring a crucial aspect for judging a qualifying effort. Throughout the 4.381 km lap the Hungaroring’s old-school layout is packed with fourteen corners.
The Hungaroring is technically demanding, bumpy and narrow, loved by drivers and adored by fans for its traditional atmosphere. The key to a good result here is a good grid slot. Having the fastest car will mean nothing if you’re stuck in the pack. In 1990 Thierry Boutsen in a sluggish Williams held off a much quicker Ayrton Senna to win the race. The chances of overtaking, even with DRS, are slim to none. No one knows the frustration of not being to overtake better than Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn has finished second at the Hungarian GP on four separate occasions.The new tyres, tested during the three days of the young driver’s test at Silverstone last week, will be used this weekend in Hungary. The test was opened to current race drivers by the FIA to assist Pirelli. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg pointed out that testing the new tyres wasn’t a “day and night” difference and that running on the new compounds for the first time in Hungary “will be fine too.” The 2013 Pirelli P Zero tyres have been matched with 2012 construction to enhance consistency and improve safety.
Pirelli’s initial conservative choice of the medium and hard compounds would’ve hampered teams such as Lotus and Ferrari who thrive on getting the softer tyre to its working temperature quicker and stretching the life of the tyre. However, coupled with high temperature, forecast at mid-thirties, Pirelli’s reversion to the medium and soft compound will play to the strengths of the two teams.
McLaren have won eleven of the twenty-seven Hungarian grands prix but victory this weekend is unlikely to be a possibility for the Woking based team. Jenson Button believes that the team are moving the right direction. “A win in 2013 is going to be difficult, but I actually think the team is working very well right now: in Germany, our tyre-usage, strategy and management of the race was as good as it’s ever been.”
Sebastian Vettel was the quickest of the drivers at the three day young driver’s test at Silverstone last week. He will no doubt want to continue in the same vein this weekend. Red Bull has never been very prolific at the Hungaroring and of the two it is only Mark Webber who has won here before. Then again, a few weeks ago Vettel hadn’t won the German GP either.
Mercedes have proven their prowess in qualifying which makes the likelihood of the Silver Arrows locking out the front-row of the grid, or getting a car on pole very good. Given the lack of overtaking on the circuit they will have a prime opportunity to control the race and win it. However, the unknown for Mercedes this weekend will be their performance on the new Pirelli tyres.
Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari hasn’t looked anything special in qualifying trim but his lightening starts can potentially transform fifth on the grid to second – a vital part to a successful race. The key to this weekend is having a car that can cope with the twisting demands of the Hungaroring. But even more so, qualifying and making a good start to the race can be the difference between winning or not.
