In an interview with Sky Sports F1 yesterday, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery says a predicted increase in race pace in 2015 means F1’s tyre supplier will adopt an aggressive approach in the upcoming season.
The centre of attention for much of 2013 after numerous high-profile tyre failures, the Italian manufacturer enjoyed something of a back seat last year as the teams got to grips with the sport’s radical new rules.
However, with a year of development offering the opportunity to develop their engines, in his interview with Sky Sports F1 yesterday,Hembery thinks the teams will soon be pushing the tyres to the limit once more. Hembery stated the following:-
‘Last year people said we were a little bit too conservative and maybe a little bit boring, but I think it is more a case of we went into a year with new technology and there is a little bit of that this year.
‘We’ve seen some initial data that suggests the cars are going to make another good step in performance compared to last season and what might have been a conservative choice last season might become quite an aggressive one in 2015.
‘So like many we are interested to see what happens with the unfreeze for a little while of the engine regulations, what that is going to mean for the majority of teams – particularly on race pace, that is the one aspect where we expect to see a big improvement in performance. And that might make a conservative choice suddenly a bit more aggressive.’
As Hembery points out in his interview yesterday, many pundits and fans believed that Pirelli went too “conservative” last season with their tyre choices and compounds but you can understand why that is the case especially after the tyre failures in 2013 at the British Grand Prix, even if Hembrey believes that the new technical regulations being implemented was the reason behind this.
But he appears to be confident that this season Pirelli have learnt from last season’s approach and believe from the data they have gathered could lead to them approaching this season in an “aggressive” manner. Even though there is a unfreeze on the engines this season (bar Honda), they believe that this could contribute to how the teams perform on the track and it will be interesting to see that if Hembery is correct and also the “aggressive” approach Pirelli will undergo during the season ahead.
While the compounds will remain largely the same this year, the supersoft tyre will be amended to improve its operating window and further on in his interview yesterday, Hembery believes that could open a host of different strategies to the teams and increase unpredictability. Hembery added the following:-
‘Just one change really, the supersoft is having a little bit of a tweak to it to improve its working range with the temperature ranges.
‘The structure of the rear tyre is having a difference made to it to distribute the temperature build-up a bit better – all technical stuff which is probably a bit boring for most people, but from our tyre world it is very important.
‘It influences the way that the performance maintains over a race distance and can alter very substantially the differences we get on the tyre. So small changes this year, evolution rather than revolution.’
With Hembery stating that the structure of the rear tyre plays a part to helping the teams build up temperature levels especially with the supersoft tyre, it is clear that he and Pirelli are looking at ways to increase that. As he rightly points out, how the tyres are prepared is crucial to race performance during a stint but he is hoping that the small tweaks being made will help them and not hinder them this season.
But overall, it is clear that Pirelli under the direction of Hembery believe that this season with all the data they have gathered so far and also the engine unfreeze believe that their “aggressive” approach is the right direction to go. Many pundits and fans believe that Pirelli are either too “conservative” or too “aggressive” and they need to find the right balance and I would agree with that. But let us not forget that Pirelli have a brief from the FIA that they need to meet and sometimes it is a case of doing what they have been asked to do and not what they want to do.
But it would seem that Hembery believes that they have learnt a lot from 2014 and with a few small tweaks to their approach and also to especially the supersoft tyres, we will see hopefully an exciting season this year. And I hope that is the case and we see great, exciting and close racing without compromising on safety.
