Tyres move the car! Tyres are rotated by the engines inside the car and they rotate, this rotation around the center of the tyre results in displacement of the car, as the tyre cover a distance equal to its circumference in one single rotation. When this tyre keeps on rotating, the car keeps on moving and if the speed of its rotation increases, the car accelerates and when brakes are applied, the cars stop due to less energy provided and due to friction and hence the car decelerates until accelerated again or brought to a halt.
Hence, Tyres are also an integral part of Formula 1. The job of manufacturing these tyres in the hybrid era of Formula has been of Pirelli. Pirelli manufactures the tyres based on a set of rules, regulations, requirements and preferences provided to them by the FIA, the parent body of Formula 1. The tyres are the talking point of every race but a few races and seasons in which the tyre talk turned into a great buzz concerning the safety and reliability of the tyres in F1.
The Pirelli tyres in 2020 constitute of 5 dry tyre compounds ranging from C1 (hardest) to C5(softest – previously known as the hypersoft) and two wet tyres (Intermediate and Wet). The range of the tyre compounds is the same as in 2018 but the difference is that they have been grouped into broader categories and with 3 tyres in use in ever race, the compound range shifts to the left or the right being either C1, C2 and C3 or C2, C3 and C4 or even C3, C4 and C5. The higher the compound number the softer the tyre and higher the speed but lesser the durability.
For simple information on the 2020 F1 tyres by Pirelli, visit this link.
The tyres compounds have a lot of effect on the race strategy. A softer compound range means more pit stops but higher speeds. A harder compound range means longer stints but less grip on the track. The tyres are made of a mixture of natural and synthetic rubbers and various other components, materials and chemical compounds. Each tyre is tested to its limits before being included into a race.
The tyres have their own specialities due to their structure and composition. The table given below shows the same in a tabular format. In brief, the red marked soft tyre is the fastest as it provides the most amount of grip. The difference in the grip is due to the difference in the compounds used and the quantity in which they have been used.
But many ask as to why there is only one supplier and such a wide range of tyre choices and the restrictions in place. The answer is a little complex but the main answer is that F1 has a competition which is also very dangerous and hence, some restrictions need to be put in place so that not only is a fair playing field maintained but even safety is ensured.
The main reason that there is only 1 tyre manufacturer is not only to maintain a level playing field as different manufacturers have different technologies but also to maintain safety. In the early years of the 21st century, around the time that F1 had turned around 60, the tyre competition between the several brands had increased so much that each manufacturer brought in something new, which would enable the drivers to drive faster and have more grip for a longer duration of time but were not necessarily that safe. After several accidents and issues, it was decided that the new rule will put in place and since then Pirelli makes tyres which are both competitive and help make strategy decisions a part of the sport even from a tyre perspective.
The tyres are made as such that to ensure the most amount of grip and speed and for a balance, there is an optimum temperature. This is because the grip is attained by propery having the substances in the tyre stick enough to the ground to keep the car down, along with help from aerodynamics, but to also ensure proper speed and proper duration before the tyre starts to degrade due to several factors. At the start of the race, this is done by heating them and keeping them under blankets. It is essential as, if the tyres are not properly heated and do not grip, then the high speed F1 cars will run off the track and not be able to driver properly. Hence, the FIA’s decision to ban the tyre blankets in 2021 was also reversed, as new tyres are being introduced.
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The tyres that are used have a definite tyre pressure prescribed by the tyre manufacturer – Pirelli. This ensures that all team get the same amount of advantage or disadvantage and cannot get extra performance out of the tyres as a difference in pressure can cause a difference in the heating of the tyre which can in turn cause a difference and bring in a change in the length of time for the usability of the tyre.
These are the factors, related to the tyre, that mainly affect the tyre degradation and strategy but apart from these there are several other factors which first need to be completely understood and analysed.
The Tyre Camber is the angle at which the tyre iset from the ground. The axis is vertical and the angle is the mounting angle. The tyres could either be facing inwards or outwards or even straight depending on the requirement but in F1 tyres generally never have neutral camber (straight alignment). If the top of the tyre is tilted towards the car’s body, then that is known as negative camber whereas if it is tilted outwards and away, it is known as positive camber. Camber is important as F1 cars are not drag racing and need to turn some pretty complex and sharp turns. When on a turn, the tyres are dragged laterally as the car turns around the corner and this puts a lot of stretching and a lot of heating into the tyres, increasing the temperatures as well as damaging them. Hence, if there is tyre camber, the contact patch can be controlled.
The tyre has the highest contact patch when in neutral camber and this is the best for the most amount of grip and stability and also helps the car on straights, but in corners this means that more tyre is dragged and there is more overall pressure and although the pressure is distributed all along the tyre but the car also tilts towards the outside a bit due to shift in the center of mass and hence, the tyre which is towards the outside of the car has more pressure acting on it, and also the car rolls or tilts a bit and so even the tyre follows the movement slightly and tilts slightly changing the contact patch area, which heats it even more and also in a lesser area which multiplies the effects and hence can cause even more tyre degradation.
Hence, normally tyres are cambered inwards or negatively cambered so that the tyre has a larger contact patch and hence, gets more spread out heating. There are also disadvantages of the same on straights as braking is affected due to the smaller contact patch on straights and due to the instability that may arise, otherwise, acceleration is done by the rear wheels which are in neutral camber.
The tyre toe is is the setting of the tyre at an angle on a horizontal axis. This means that the tyre is at an angle from the car and either looking outwards or inwards. This also affects stability and tyre wear or tyre degradation.
All of these factors along with the other settings of the car affect how the tyre acts. All of this is very essential along with external conditions such as track temperature and weather affect how the tyres act.
Pirelli decides the tyre compounds based on the probable temperatures and how demanding the circuit would be! The temperature is high in places near the equator or mainly in Southern Europe but also depends on the physical features of the area. The demand of the circuit is based on its surface, number and type of turns/corners and the race distance.
Normally if the temperatures are high, the tyres would be the hardest compounds but what was seen in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix was that they were the softer ones but still lasted longer or happened to be safer than the ones used in the British GP 2020. This was because of a difference in tyre pressures and a better understanding of how the tyres may degrade and more planning. The British GP 2020 was a surprise for everyone and as noted one reason was also the small debris on the track which had given around a 50 “Cuts” to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull’s tyres.
This was something that was missing from the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix as there was no such big accident on the track. The tyres heat very quickly for some cars and not so much for some cars. This has a lot of effect as tyre strategies being very interesting is the main reason as to why Pirelli manufactures tyres with such longevity. The tyres are the only thing all drivers need to make pit stops for as not everyone has a front wing damage.
Mercedes had a lot more tyre degradation probably because of how their car was setup and the aggression of their drivers. The tyres are a big problem for Mercedes as they always go for the faster tyre(the one provides more speed) for the qualifying and have problems in managing the tyres and striking a balance with the pace. This is what Mercedes need to work on, and it is something that even they agree on.
The Spanish Grand Prix 2020 was lucky as the tyre degradation was not that serious even with the hot temperatures. The tyres need to be taken care of a lot. The tyre strategies can be played around with a lot and can be very lucky. Some drivers have the skill to divide their drive into parts of controlling the pace & limiting tyre degradation, striking a balance between them, and attacking with the tyre degrading.
The average time lost during a pitstop also affects the decisions somewhat as every circuit has a different length for the pit which means that the pit limit for the speed is limiting the speed for either a longer or a shorter time relatively based on when and where is the pit-stop being made, as Safety – Car situation or Yellow Flags reduce the average time lost to others as even other cars are moving slower than usual, especially during a safety car.
In Formula – 1, each and every thousandth of a second matter and this is very the performance and skills of the driver in a pit and the pit crew come into play. Red Bull have the fastest pit crew and this helps them cover even the one second otherwise. Their pit crew is also very proficient and has risks and their drivers know when and how to exactly release and this matters a lot as if a Red Bull driver loses less than what a Mercedes driver loses, which on average is around 0.75 to 1 second in many races, then the Red Bull tyre has an advantage.
If a driver come out behind a car due to an extra second then it is not helpful since the car exits the pit at a relatively very low speed and has to accelerate but normally a corner is very near, whereas the driver out on track is already on the 7 Gear and is on the racing line for the a perfect turn. Normally, there is no DRS zone nearby and hence, the driver may have to stay behind the car which did not pit for almost half a lap and hence, may face tyre degradation and aerodynamic issues in the process of overtake and may have to take the dangerous outside line and may have chances of running on the kerbs and damaging the car. This wouldn’t happen that significantly if the car which had pitted came out in front as the car would either only have to defend or we will let the car go away as he would anyway would not be able to defend for long, but a new tyre does help defending so, the driver has more options.
There is no perfect strategy but it is all about which strategy will work best for the specific team in the specific race.
If a race has higher,than it normally does,temperatures and the practice sessions show that the soft tyres last lesser than 10% of the race and the hard tyre does provide grip then the best strategy for the team would be try a one stop strategy going from Mediums to Hard, and the team could make a stop for softs towards the end if they create a considerable gap between them and the others.
If the hard tyre does not provide enough grip, and the race has a slightly shorter distance in comparison to the other races, then the team should go for medium to soft to soft or medium to medium depending on the qualifying. The team selection also needs to depend on what lap times are the team aiming for. A team like Mercedes would also have to look at if their car setup will work for a softer tyre.
There are only 3 combinations for Pirelli to choose from but the variation has a lot of effect on tyre management and lap times. The tyre allocations for the 2020 season are to set by Pirelli and teams don’t get to choose the number of softs, mediums and hards they get and this also has a lot of impact as normally teams decide that due to such conditions, our cars will run best on these settings with these tyres based on simulations but now they need to experiment more on track as well and there is always some uncertainty.
Red Bull and Mercedes will have tough battle, due to the tyre managements in the 2020 season as there is going to be more than normal heat for almost 80 percent of the season. Mercedes have got a lot of work to do.
Scuderia Ferrari with a pretty slow engine has less tyre degradation and even its drivers are very good at managing them. They need to work on the other aspects more.
The new 18 inch tyres that will come into action from probably the 2022 season (due to postponement of the 2021 changes) will also have a great impact but that is something else to be analysed and not in this blog post since a lot more clarity will be gained in the coming near future,but what is understood right now is that it will have a lot of impact on not only tyre management but even some other key factors related the areas where the tyres in an F1 car are located.
So, hoping that the basic of the tyre talks were explained to you properly in this post. If you have any suggestions, questions or complaints do leave in the comments section. More explanations coming soon!
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