F1 rethinking plan for high degradation tyres in 2020

  • Published on 08 Apr 2019 12:33
  • comments 5
  • By: Fergal Walsh

A plan to bring back heavily degrading tyres in 2020 is now set to be scrapped, according to Pirelli. 

In recent years, Pirelli has built tyres that allow drivers to push for longer periods, something they couldn't do in the opening seasons of the Pirelli years when it reentered the sport in 2011.

Pirelli faced competition to be Formula 1's sole tyre supplier from 2020 to 2023, but managed to secure a contract last year, in which it stated the tyre supplier should set targets for high degradation - as much as two seconds of lap time over 10% of a race distance.

However that is not set to be the case anymore, according to Pirelli's head of motorsport Mario Isola.

"We have an ongoing discussion with both FIA and FOM and also the teams to understand which is the direction,” he said to RaceFans.net.

“If you look at the tender document released by the FIA – the target letter that was appended to the document – they were thinking [about] very high degradation tyres.

"But looking at what happened last year now we quite agree that it is probably not the right direction.”

Isola added that Pirelli's attempts to introduce more pit stops during a race has resulted in teams finding more ways to manage their tyres.

“We tried to be a lot aggressive with the three compounds and basically the teams were increasing the pace management to go on a one-stop."

Isola also revealed that Pirelli has a headache when it comes to selecting the three compounds it brings to a weekend, as it is difficult to factor in strategies when doing so.

“If we go conservative with all the three compounds then the hardest of the three is not chosen by anybody and you just have the mandatory set," he said.

"If we use the two soft that are quite close and a hard that is one step harder, nobody is using this one.

"If we use two conservative and one that is more aggressive – the softest is one step more aggressive, then we create an issue to the midfield because the top teams try to qualify on the medium while the others are obliged to use the soft and their race is done.

“So it’s difficult. We don’t have the perfect solution. What we are trying to do is to run many simulations with different delta lap times with different levels of degradation to understand which is the best.

"That is not perfect, but at least is in the right direction.”

kngrthr

Posts: 203

bring back fuel stops.
that will shuffle it up.
you can run max power for less laps or lower power for longer. the teams will then have to juggle tyres to suit that choice.
team will have to readjust mid race depending on how the race is unfolding.
could be very interesting with these engines

  • 1
  • Apr 9 2019 - 07:46

Replies (5)

Login to reply
  • f1dave

    Posts: 782

    When it comes down to artificially manipulating race outcome by making components that fail prematurely it makes me wonder about calling F1 the pinnacle of motorsport. Will the proposed single supplier for transmissions call for a third gear that is designed fail ?

    • + 0
    • Apr 8 2019 - 16:23
    • Also, why not have a standardized steering wheel with a 5% chance of coming off mid-race?

      • + 0
      • Apr 9 2019 - 06:24
  • Kokoro

    Posts: 15

    Make driver use all three tyre types in race at least once.

    • + 0
    • Apr 9 2019 - 00:29
  • Good riddance. While we don't need tyres that'll last an entire race (wait, actually that'd be nice, but in return they could be slower, would vary up the strategies), even high deg tyres than the ones we already have seem a bit toss.

    • + 0
    • Apr 9 2019 - 06:23
  • kngrthr

    Posts: 203

    bring back fuel stops.
    that will shuffle it up.
    you can run max power for less laps or lower power for longer. the teams will then have to juggle tyres to suit that choice.
    team will have to readjust mid race depending on how the race is unfolding.
    could be very interesting with these engines

    • + 1
    • Apr 9 2019 - 07:46

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2023

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
3 - Mar 5
Bahrain
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia
31 - Apr 2
Australia
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan
5 - May 7
United States of America
19 - May 21
Italy
26 - May 28
Monaco
2 - Jun 4
Spain
16 - Jun 18
Canada
30 - Jul 2
Austria
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom
21 - Jul 23
Hungary
28 - Jul 30
Belgium
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands
1 - Sep 3
Italy
15 - Sep 17
Singapore
22 - Sep 24
Japan
20 - Oct 22
United States of America
27 - Oct 29
Mexico
3 - Nov 5
Brazil
17 - Nov 19
United States of America
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
3 - Mar 5
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
26 - May 28
Monaco Monte Carlo
2 - Jun 4
16 - Jun 18
30 - Jul 2
Austria Red Bull Ring
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom Silverstone
21 - Jul 23
Hungary Hungaroring
28 - Jul 30
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
1 - Sep 3
Italy Monza
15 - Sep 17
22 - Sep 24
20 - Oct 22
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
27 - Oct 29
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

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar