Pirelli unhappy to test tyres with 2010 F1 car
21 August, 2012
Nick Heidfeld tests for Pirelli at Mugello in the 2010 Toyota F1 car
Aug.21 (GMM) The notoriously narrow operating window of this year’s Pirelli F1 tyres could have been avoided, with the help of the competing Formula One teams.
That is the claim of the Italian marque’s F1 chief Paul Hembery, who said that the sport’s official supplier did not foresee the full characteristics of the 2012 tyre.
“The same tyres used on a 2010 car do not have the same level of challenge,” the Briton is quoted by Brazil’s Totalrace.
Until last year, Pirelli was developing its F1 tyres with the 2009 Toyota, upgraded to simulate subsequent regulation changes.
Now, with testers Jaime Alguersuari and Lucas di Grassi at the wheel, the marque has been at work with the 2010 Renault, as last raced by Robert Kubica.
But Hembery said the “aerodynamic balance” of a 2010 car versus this year’s cars is fundamentally different.
“This is important because it changes the energy going into the tyre and the relative temperature front to rear,” he explained.
Asked if Pirelli had foreseen the characteristics of the 2012 tyre, Hembery revealed: “No, because we could not see it on a 2010 car.”
So when asked if the marque will push ahead with its Renault test car programme, he answered: “It’s the only one we can [test].
“Of course we don’t like to test with a two year old car, but it was a great battle even to get that.”
Hembery explained that Pirelli getting its hands on a 2012-spec test car would require the teams to agree, “and they will not”.
“It took 18 months for them to reach a consensus last time and we had to make do with a car from 2010.
“I can’t even have one of last year’s cars, unfortunately.
“The cars change so much from one year to another, and in terms of the compounds we are talking about very precise parameters.”
Subbed by AJN.
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Pirelli seems unhappy about everything and everyone seems unhappy with Pirelli. Which begs the question, why are they still here?
Bridgestone and Michelin have both had development problems in the past due to not having test cars and tracks.
Michelin suffered the humiliation when the side wall of the tyre couldn’t take the constant Lateral loading in the USA.
As Pirelli are being asked to do something so different with the wear of the tyre I can see why they could do with a car that uses the tyres in the way the up to date car does, rather than one that is putting more down force through a corner which would give you the wrong amounts of loading.
But you also have to include maps and torque loads which is impossible to read on an older car.
but then he would also need a car from each team in my mind.
Interesting that Bridgestone and Michelin, as well as Goodyear and Firestone historically (and in other series), have had no problem building proper tires without a test car… yet Pirelli can’t? Perhaps they should focus on the basics and stop trying to tune their tires to a narrow, overly specific car characteristic. I also suspect some of their issues lie in the test drivers they are employing, which too impart very unique and specific wear and tire load behavior. Seems the approach is flawed fundamentally, and creating flawed end product as a result.
Atleast they have a car to test with unlike Bridgestone