Because the Components 1 grid has received ever nearer, element variations have turn into extra essential within the battle for wins.
One space that’s getting growing consideration is tyre behaviour – and particularly find out how to handle them over race stints higher than your rivals.
Groups and drivers have shortly come to grasp that there are some particular methods wanted to grasp what Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has labelled ‘Pirelli Magic.’
What he’s referring to particularly is a trait that the present technology of tyres have – in that how they behave over a full race stint is completely depending on how they’re handled of their first few laps out of the pits.
For those who go too exhausting too early, the tyres can overheat and lose efficiency. However go too sluggish out of the pits for a pleasant light introduction, then you definately danger dropping observe place.
There was maybe no larger instance of this enjoying out than the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc’s tyres fell away within the closing levels after he had been compelled to push exhausting early within the closing stint as he battled with Oscar Piastri.
That late drama was in distinction to drivers like Sainz and George Russell, whose tyres got here alive as that they had gone straightforward on them initially.
As Sainz stated about this dilemma between pushing exhausting or going straightforward: “It is a very positive line, very tight technique to use.
“You need to play a little bit of the Pirelli magic, relying on the observe format and tarmac, even the compounds, as some compounds are extra delicate to them than others.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Picture by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Photographs
“It is advisable to then put the technique into perspective, consider if it may repay to do it now, or is the undercut/overcut too necessary to danger that introduction.
“You’ve got so many issues to contemplate throughout these first three laps of the stint: whether or not you wish to spend your cash on these laps otherwise you wish to spend them later within the race.
“It is very straightforward to misjudge, since you by no means know what is going on to occur sooner or later. And also you may need wasted your cash in one thing that was not price it.”
So what is admittedly occurring right here to set off this phenomenon?
The important thing factor of this ‘Pirelli magic’ pertains to tyre temperatures, and the way that may be so closely influenced by the introduction of contemporary rubber.
As Pirelli’s head of F1 and automotive racing Mario Isola stated: “It is a matter of thermal behaviour of the compound.
“The transition between 70 levels [which the tyres are warmed to in the blankets] and the operating strain is kind of necessary since you modify the chemical hyperlinks within the compound, and this will generate thermal degradation.
“For those who introduce the tyre in a delicate manner for the primary couple of laps, you shock the tyre much less, you stress the tyre much less and you’ve got much less degradation.”
Because the above graph exhibits, giving the tyre a better introduction means the floor temperature doesn’t spike, and that has long-term advantages for the extra essential carcass temp.
Isola added: “It’s principally in regards to the chemical compounds. For those who put lots of vitality into the tyre and lots of warmth, then you definately modify your chemical hyperlinks and that is producing extra degradation.”
However whereas the speculation of this ‘Pirelli magic’ is obvious, truly having the ability to ship it isn’t so easy, as a result of it isn’t so simple as telling the driving force to take it straightforward for the primary laps out of the pits.
Isola added: “It’s not a matter of going slower, as a result of generally you should push a bit extra to warmth the entrance tyres.
“So it is determined by the set-up of the automotive. It relies upon how a lot you wish to shield the rear tyres. For those who shield the rear tyres loads, then you should warmth up the entrance tyres, so you should push a bit extra. For those who decelerate an excessive amount of then the danger is that you simply don’t have the tyres prepared.
“I’m certain it’s a problem for the groups. They’ve engineers which are devoted to understanding how the tyres work and the way they’ll extract the height efficiency from the tyres.
“I do know that every one the groups are instructing their drivers on find out how to do the out-lap with a purpose to get the most effective from the tyres. They’ve the temperatures on the steering wheel, so that they know the way a lot they must push and the way a lot they must again off with a purpose to have the tyres prepared when they need.”
Mario Isola, Racing Supervisor, Pirelli Motorsport, within the group principals Press Convention
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photographs
It’s little marvel that Haas devoted lots of its operating on the pre-season Bahrain take a look at to specializing in this space of race efficiency.
Workforce boss Ayao Komatsu stated: “For the primary two days we totally, totally centered on that.
“That was each from the engineering aspect, defining find out how to handle it, after which drivers to execute it as properly, and find out how to really feel it.
“We needed to know that if you happen to do totally different administration, that is the results of it by way of tyre degradation. It was a group effort and we’re nonetheless studying.”
However whereas the ‘Pirelli magic’ is a key focus for everybody now, Isola is obvious on one factor: it has turn into related solely as a result of different areas of the vehicles are now not making the distinction.
“It’s about how aggressive the championship is correct now,” he stated. “The Pirelli magic shouldn’t be Pirelli magic, as we’re utilizing the identical compounds that we used final yr when nobody was speaking about this.
“When you have a giant benefit like Max [Verstappen] a couple of years in the past, then you definately don’t actually care in case you are within the peak of grip or near it.
“But when you must battle for a place and you’ve got three or 4 drivers inside a tenth of a second, then you possibly can perceive how necessary it’s to remain within the peak of the grip.”
It’s also honest to say that the duty is unending and getting the ‘Pirelli magic’ spot on one weekend isn’t any assure you’re going to get it proper the following.
As Aston Martin efficiency director Tom McCullough stated: “That is the steadiness between my tyre engineers, my technique engineers, and my drivers that I’m juggling the entire time. It is totally different observe to trace, compound to compound.
“So that’s what you are attempting to study on a Friday. So we kind of go into Friday with a ‘Mr. Tyres needs this to occur’ and ‘Mr. Technique needs this to occur’. What can we agree is the most effective plan? Then we strive to try this…”
