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[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...

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?

Therein lies the point - Pirelli changed the tyre selection to help the teams out, where the teams should fix their own setup problems (case in point Red Bull at Spa last year - luckily for them their problem solved itself when the track rubbered in). Blistering can be fixed in setup. May cost some ultimate lap time, but if you've gotta get the tyres working, you gotta get em working...

[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?

Therein lies the point - Pirelli changed the tyre selection to help the teams out, where the teams should fix their own setup problems (case in point Red Bull at Spa last year - luckily for them their problem solved itself when the track rubbered in). Blistering can be fixed in setup. May cost some ultimate lap time, but if you've gotta get the tyres working, you gotta get em working...

Yes scotty, they changed it for Monza, but not for most of the other races and yet, as implied in the article, the number of pit stops is coming down since the teams are getting to grips with the tires better and better.
What Pirelli could do is bring softer and softer tires to races that don't last long and therefore trigger more pit stops again. Not sure that would be a good thing though...

[scotty]

Formula 1 teams are pushing to ensure there will be no repeat of the 'shock' they faced in dealing with tyres at the start of this season, after getting hold of Pirelli's 2013 specifications for the first time.

Pirelli has made its final decision on the modifications it is making to next year's rubber following the recent conclusion of its private testing programme.

This information has been provided to the teams, so they can incorporate that knowledge into the designs of next year's cars.

The company is modifying both the compounds and constructions of its products for next year in a bid to ensure the racing is kept exciting.

It is also revising the tyres so that teams do not face as difficult a time as they had in 2012 of getting the rubber into the right operating window.

On the back of Pirelli submitting its 2013 data, F1 team engineers have conceded that they did not react as well as they should have to the changes made for 2012, which is why they will be taking matters much more seriously this time out.

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe told AUTOSPORT: "Certainly it was a bit of a shock to the system for all the teams this year - and we have learned from that.

"What we had this year relative to last year was quite a big surprise to everybody, but the data [supplied beforehand] did not really indicate that; so we will really have to see.

"The data tells you certain hard facts, like the weight and shape, and these are things you can use in development. But in terms of how the compounds behave in their life there isn't really data about that, these are things you discover when you use them. We will be working hard on that."

Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan said: "We still haven't got all the information about what is happening for next year, but we are definitely paying closer attention to what is happening."

When asked by AUTOSPORT if teams had underestimated the changes made for 2012, he said: "Probably. I don't think anybody, certainly from our side, would have thought the season would have progressed and evolved as it has done - which made for exciting racing."

Although Pirelli is reluctant to offer a detailed explanation yet of the changes it is making to its tyres, Lowe says that as well as a revised shape, the rubber will weigh more in 2013.

"They [the tyres] are quite a bit heavier, which was a surprise to me," he said. "Considering the changes are not supposed to be very substantial, which to me would indicate not a big weight change, there is quite a big weight change."

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said about the situation: "We have started explaining to the teams and they are getting that information now.

"We do a lot of indoor testing and data creation to help them run their models. We put that data on a central server so they have access in real time together. They get it at the same time, so nobody has an advantage and that is being supplied to a timetable now.

"We are making some changes to the tyres – and it will have a difference particularly on aero. The tyre will also behave dynamically different."

The lack of understanding that teams had of the tyres at the start of this season led to an unpredictable start to the campaign, with seven different winners from the first seven races.

Tyres will have a particular effect on aero eh? Maybe expect more madness at the start of next season...

[scotty]

Also:

Bruno Senna expects Pirelli's less critical tyres to be a help to sensitive drivers like him during the 2013 season.

The 29-year-old Brazilian reckons that while this year's rubber has been critically sensitive to different driving approaches, the Italian tyre manufacturer is aiming to try and make next year's batch work within a broader spectrum.

"Next year we will have new tyres again which can shuffle the order around a little bit," he said.

"Pirelli is trying to make the tyres a bit more, let's say, wider ranging for driving styles so that more people with different driving styles can achieve the same sort of laptime and we will see what is going to happen."

Senna explained that the sensitivity of this year's tyres was such that it had the potential to influence drivers' laptimes even within the same team.

"Pirelli made some changes to the front and rear tyres [this year] to mitigate some of the issues they were having and every time you change one thing in the tyre you are going to introduce another characteristic," he explained.

"So this year the tyres have been very picky, in terms of the driving style that they favour.

"Sometimes you see a big difference between drivers in the same team, and it's basically because the tyre prefers that driving style to the other.

"So for sure as the year goes on the differences get smaller and the consistency gets better but especially from an early season perspective it really makes a difference."

Translates as 'i might need a drive next season, so please don't be put off by my issues this year' to me, sadly. Bruno is a really good guy (although i'm probably biased) and i hope he gets a drive.

[What's Burning?]

other than the sidewall shape and perhaps how the tires sit how much different can a tire be to affect the aero? Width is staying the same front and rear from what I've read.

[scotty]

other than the sidewall shape and perhaps how the tires sit how much different can a tire be to affect the aero? Width is staying the same front and rear from what I've read.

Perhaps an increase/decrease in compression under aero loading is what i suspect. It won't be a massive difference in pure dimensional terms (whatever they mean here), but as we all know, the little things all add up to so much in F1!

[racechick]

Teams will get a chance to try the new 2013 Pirelli tyres at Brazil
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... ostpopular
Could be an advantage for teams not in the title chase at the last GP, because they will need to concentrate on winning the GP not on testing for next year.

[What's Burning?]

unless it's all been decided before then.

[Hammer278]

unless it's all been decided before then.

It will 'all' but be decided before then.

[scotty]

Or they'll end up changing the compounds based on the test, which is likely...

[What's Burning?]

So I've been poking around after hearing it mentioned by Will Buxton this weekend, and Steve Matchett on speed... that they secret to getting more life out of the Pirelli compound has been to push one lap and let them rest the next and push the next lap then let them rest the next and repeat the cycle. They're claiming that's why we've no longer see the sheer cliff of a drop off when the tires went that we were seeing at the begining of the year.

Anyone heard anything to substantiate this?

[darwin dali]

So I've been poking around after hearing it mentioned by Will Buxton this weekend, and Steve Matchett on speed... that they secret to getting more life out of the Pirelli compound has been to push one lap and let them rest the next and push the next lap then let them rest the next and repeat the cycle. They're claiming that's why we've no longer see the sheer cliff of a drop off when the tires went that we were seeing at the begining of the year.

Anyone heard anything to substantiate this?

Yeah, heard about that 'curing' of the tires as well, but no other source so far.

[racechick]

I've heard Michelin might be coming back. So then there'll be another tyre war and we get fast tyres again not till 2014 though if it happens.

[vlad]

That about the tires could make sense. I think that Vettel did just that in Japan, Korea and India.

[What's Burning?]

ESPNF1; Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery believes some teams could be caught out by the new Circuit of the Americas this weekend.
The United States Grand Prix takes place on the new circuit for the first time, with Pirelli supplying an extra set of hard tyres on Friday to help the teams learn the track. However, Hembery thinks the teams could be surprised by the abrasive nature of the track surface and despite choosing the hard and medium compounds he expects a two-stop race will be the optimal strategy.

Medium and hard for this weekend and a two stop strategy looking likely.