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[LewEngBridewell]

The tyres are here to stay it seems; yes, they are artificial; I also do not like the way they fall off a cliff, dropping a leading driver out of the points in the space of a lap or two; that's not racing to me; degradation is one thing but extreme degradation that completely ruins a drivers race is akin to saying that "you're doing well so we'll only let you have 50% engine power."

2005 was worse.

[Scooter185]

Marko has put on his tinfoil hat (and i believe this idea has been thrown around the speed forums for at least 3 races now) http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/ ... 012-marko/

Dr Helmut Marko suspects there are "serious differences" in the quality of the sets of tires being supplied this year by Pirelli.

Red Bull's motor racing consultant also said the sole tire supplier's 2012 product works only within a ludicrously small performance 'window', and favors cars with simple designs.

According to the German language motorline.cc, Marko said Italian marque Pirelli "received an order to make Formula One more exciting".

In 2011, for Pirelli's first season on the grid, the tires spiced up the show due to their heavily-degrading nature.

And this year, experts have explained that the tires are 'mysterious' in terms of how the engineers and drivers can make them work.

"Normally a tire degrades steadily, but with the current Pirelli compounds they are working one lap and the next they're gone," said the outspoken Austrian.

And Marko said the Pirellis are also difficult to get working in the first place.

"I think it was in Malaysia with Mark Webber, we were on the hard compound and we put in two clicks more of front wing -- a marginal difference but 'Bang!' we were 1.2 seconds faster.

"We thought 'Boom! Our car is now great' but we put on the soft compound and were eight tenths slower," he said.

Marko said he suspects there are "serious differences" in the quality of the sets of tires being supplied by Pirelli this year.

"The result is that cars that are simple in design are easier to get to the windows in which the tires work best."

At Valencia recently, however, Red Bull's latest developments appeared to be a breakthrough for the RB8, as Sebastian Vettel dominated qualifying and the race until his technical breakdown.

"It hurts (rivals) terribly when you're so superior," explained Marko. "In the race we had to tell Vettel 'Go slower! Even slower! And now even slower!'

"We know too well -- if you are too far ahead you definitely lose more friends than you make."

[myownalias]

The tyres are here to stay it seems; yes, they are artificial; I also do not like the way they fall off a cliff, dropping a leading driver out of the points in the space of a lap or two; that's not racing to me; degradation is one thing but extreme degradation that completely ruins a drivers race is akin to saying that "you're doing well so we'll only let you have 50% engine power."

2005 was worse.

Yes it was; having to make one set of tyres last an entire race distance was possibly the stupidest idea ever in F1; which led to the debacle at Indy!

[spankyham]

Just watched/listened to the pit radio for the Valencia race again, amazes me how much tires (especially rears) dominate most of the chatter between the drivers and their engineers. I mean, there's plenty of other stuff, and tires were always a high profile topic, but it just seems to dominate strategy, planning, actions etc etc.

[scotty]

Latest allocations:

Pirelli has announced its tyre compound choice for the next three Formula 1 races, with the tyre firm electing to take its hardest selection to the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.

With the company's 2012 rubber being more aggressive than last year's, Pirelli has elected to use the medium and hard tyres for the events at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza.

Both high-speed tracks are demanding on the tyres, and last year's Belgian GP is remembered for the camber controversy that surrounded Red Bull.

Pirelli will bring its super soft and soft tyres to the Singapore GP, with the track layout of the street circuit perfect for that range of rubber.

[LewEngBridewell]

Spa and Monza

My favourite circuits of all time

[Ayrton Senna is God]

Spa and Monza

My favourite circuits of all time

+1

[Hammer278]

The tyres are here to stay it seems; yes, they are artificial; I also do not like the way they fall off a cliff, dropping a leading driver out of the points in the space of a lap or two; that's not racing to me; degradation is one thing but extreme degradation that completely ruins a drivers race is akin to saying that "you're doing well so we'll only let you have 50% engine power."

2005 was worse.

Yes it was; having to make one set of tyres last an entire race distance was possibly the stupidest idea ever in F1; which led to the debacle at Indy!

I disagree. What's wrong with making tyres last an entire race distance? It's not more risky than what we have today, if we're talking about safety. Indy was a huge f*ck up by Michelin, their tyres couldn't handle the loading at the oval section. Other than that, both Michelin and Bridgestone did a great job making long lasting tyres! (which to me is more productive and less wastage!)

Kimi's Nurburgring issue happened because the team and himself chose not to pit to replace the tyre. It's not like they were forced to run to the end or face disqualification. It was a risk they took and paid for rather heavily...but not because of a tyre rule.

[darwin dali]

ESPNF1:
Hembery said the teams are starting to manage races with fewer pit stops in general, but added that Pirelli would try to keep the racing interesting.

"There's a tendency this year to have one pit stop per car less than last year and we're starting to see a trend going towards one pit stop no matter what we use and that's something we'll be looking to change. It's a moving target because when you set the engineers a challenge over time they will resolve it."


I wonder how?

[vlad]

It's getting really boring!

[andrew]

It's getting really boring!

[The Second Coming]

I have to say, I was expecting Pirelli to go soft and super soft at Monza to increase the chance of more stops and greater risks if you choose less stops. As it stands, tomorrow might be a snoozer if everyone just stops once. It will come down to which pit crew is on their game. This is where I think Lewis might likely lose the race. The McLaren crew have not been that kind to him this year. #Fingerscrossed

I'm just saying...

[scotty]

ESPNF1:
Hembery said the teams are starting to manage races with fewer pit stops in general, but added that Pirelli would try to keep the racing interesting.

"There's a tendency this year to have one pit stop per car less than last year and we're starting to see a trend going towards one pit stop no matter what we use and that's something we'll be looking to change. It's a moving target because when you set the engineers a challenge over time they will resolve it."


I wonder how?

For starters by not bring their hardest compound tyres to a place with very low tyre wear, for example...

[darwin dali]

ESPNF1:
Hembery said the teams are starting to manage races with fewer pit stops in general, but added that Pirelli would try to keep the racing interesting.

"There's a tendency this year to have one pit stop per car less than last year and we're starting to see a trend going towards one pit stop no matter what we use and that's something we'll be looking to change. It's a moving target because when you set the engineers a challenge over time they will resolve it."


I wonder how?

For starters by not bring their hardest compound tyres to a place with very low tyre wear, for example...

Well, last year some teams had severe blistering issues at Monza, that's why they went harder this year around.
At any rate, the teams' engineers seem to be catching up with the tires no matter which combo is on offer, so the question still stands: how could/would Pirelli achieve a change?

[Revvenge]

I feel like Pirelli buckled under the pressure of the press saying their tires sucked. I really enjoyed the high wear tires, forcing pitstops, because it led to great racing. People on different strategies regarding tires meeting eachother on track. The occasional race where the softer tires were so horrible, everyone tried to ditch them asap. It was all working as intended, but the stupid media (I think mostly in Italy, because Ferrari struggled with it) kept saying Pirelli was a horrible manufacturer, which they weren't because they got it right, but now they have nice safe tires where the harder tyre works way too good and the softer lasts way too long.