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Pirelli moves to allay fears about tyres for 2014

Pirelli moves to allay fears about tyres for 2014

  • Published on 20 Dec 2013 08:38
  • comments 0
  • By: Rob Veenstra
After a controversial 2013, Pirelli has moved to allay fears about its tyres for next year's world championship. Before the Tweet was deleted, German driver Nico Rosberg on Thursday told his more than 400,000 followers about a 320kph "toilet paper" moment during Pirelli's private 2014 tyre testing in Bahrain.

The DPA news agency said Mercedes - testing its 2013 car in the island Kingdom alongside Red Bull, Ferrari and Toro Rosso - wrapped up its activities in Bahrain in the wake of the failure. According to France's autohebdo.fr, Pirelli did not immediately want to divulge any details, insisting the testing is "private" and the information "confidential". The Italian marque did confirm, however, that "incidents can occur" during testing.

Later, as the news about the latest exploded Pirelli spread throughout the F1 world, Pirelli said the offending tyre had been a "prototype". Pirelli added that the tyre on Rosberg's car had only previously been tested "in the laboratory", and "will not be proposed again". "Thus, the safety of the tyres which will be supplied for the next championship is not in question," F1's official supplier added in a media statement.

In fairness to Pirelli, its tyres are having to be vastly different to those supplied to teams in 2013, due to the high-torque demands of the new turbo engines. Jenson Button, now the most experienced driver on the F1 grid, thinks all the changes are going to make official winter testing next month "hilarious". "It will be cold, the tyres aren't going to work, the cars probably won't work either," he is quoted by the Independent newspaper.

Some teams, however, are relishing the F1 revolution, after Red Bull utterly dominated the now-concluded era where V8 engines were frozen and aerodynamic development was key. "Being able to build the engine and chassis together is definitely a nice advantage," Ferrari's new technical director James Allison said on Thursday, as the Italian team's new V6 'power unit" was launched at Maranello. "Other teams cannot do the same and this year, like never before, installing the new power unit in the car's chassis will be a complex operation," he added.

Allison is referring to the contrast between teams like Ferrari and Mercedes, who are both chassis and engine manufacturers, and 'customer' outfits like his former employer Lotus, who simply buy an engine from Renault. "I've got direct experience of that from my time at Lotus: it's true the engine supplier tries to meet your demands, but it's never the same thing as happens here, where there is a historical culture relating to a common task of defining and developing the design of the new car," he said. (GMM)
F1 News Jenson Button Nico Rosberg Lotus F1 Pirelli Mercedes Renault Ferrari

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World Championship standings 2023

Pos
Team
Points
1
Red Bull Racing
623
2
Mercedes
305
3
Ferrari
285
4
Aston Martin
221
5
McLaren
172
6
Alpine F1
84
7
Williams
21
8
Haas F1
12
9
Alfa Romeo Racing
10
10
Alpha Tauri
5
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
3 - Mar 5
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
31 - Apr 2
Australia
Albert Park
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
5 - May 7
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
19 - May 21
Italy
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
26 - May 28
Monaco
Monte Carlo
2 - Jun 4
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
16 - Jun 18
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
30 - Jul 2
Austria
Red Bull Ring
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom
Silverstone
21 - Jul 23
Hungary
Hungaroring
28 - Jul 30
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
1 - Sep 3
Italy
Monza
15 - Sep 17
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
22 - Sep 24
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
6 - Oct 8
Qatar
Losail International Circuit
20 - Oct 22
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
27 - Oct 29
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
3 - Nov 5
Brazil
Interlagos
17 - Nov 19
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit
3 - Mar 5
Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
31 - Apr 2
Australia Albert Park
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
5 - May 7
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
19 - May 21
Italy Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
26 - May 28
Monaco Monte Carlo
2 - Jun 4
Spain Circuit de Catalunya
16 - Jun 18
Canada Gilles Villeneuve
30 - Jul 2
Austria Red Bull Ring
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom Silverstone
21 - Jul 23
Hungary Hungaroring
28 - Jul 30
Belgium Spa-Francorchamps
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
1 - Sep 3
Italy Monza
15 - Sep 17
Singapore Marina Bay Street Circuit
22 - Sep 24
Japan Circuit Suzuka
6 - Oct 8
Qatar Losail International Circuit
20 - Oct 22
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
27 - Oct 29
Mexico Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
3 - Nov 5
Brazil Interlagos
17 - Nov 19
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
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Driver profile

GB Jenson Button 22
Jenson Button
  • Team McLaren
  • Points 37
  • Podiums 0
  • Grand Prix 41
  • Country GB
  • Date of b. Jan 19 1980 (43)
  • Place of b. Frome, Somerset, GB
  • Weight 72 kg
  • Length 1.82 m
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Lotus F1
Lotus F1
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