Towards two mandatory stops in 2014?

The Formula 1 season has been marked by numerous controversies related to the tires supplied by Pirelli. The Italian manufacturer’s decision to provide the paddock with even softer compounds than in 2012, to encourage spectacular and eventful races, did not meet the approval it had garnered in 2012. The FIA’s strategic group is therefore considering the possibility of implementing mandatory pit stops during races.

A calamitous season

Several incidents have marred the previously almost idyllic relationship between Pirelli and the top discipline, all stemming from the inability of the Italian brand to conduct sufficient tests before the beginning and during the season to address potential tire durability issues. Thus, last May, Pirelli organized, with Mercedes, several testing days at the Barcelona circuit after the Spanish Grand Prix, aiming to collect as much data as possible and prepare for the future. A few days after a decision was made on this matter by the FIA, it was during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone that the racing world realized the necessity for change, following the in-race explosion of several tires.

The decision made was, failing that, to revert to the 2012 tire version, even though Pirelli had been calling for measures to be taken to facilitate their task well before this rollback. Due to a lack of agreement among the teams, some of whom believed these compounds provided them with an advantage or a disadvantage to their competitors, all parties found themselves at an impasse, and the authorities had to invoke safety arguments for a unilateral decision to end the crisis. The image of the Italian manufacturer was significantly tarnished not only with the general public but especially among F1 stakeholders, who had themselves expressed their desire for softer tires to promote spectacular races.

Pirelli announced in November that it wanted its role to be clarified so that the quality of its products would no longer be called into question, even though the sporting world was the source of such a request: “We want it to be clear, because [the criticisms] this year show that people may have forgotten what type of product was wanted. It got lost somewhere in the meanders of time, and that’s the important thing that needs to be resolved. Someone needs to tell us what they want to do,” Paul Hembery stated to our colleagues at *Autosport*.

The points under discussion

Autosport reports that a rule may be introduced next season requiring drivers to stop at least twice per race to change tires. The F1 strategy group, which will meet in December, is expected to discuss a proposal made by Pirelli, with the manufacturer indicating it is ready to maintain the conservative approach of recent Grand Prix if the rule is not adopted.

More specifically, besides the requirement to pass through the pit lane at least twice, drivers would not be allowed to complete more than 50% of the race with the same set of “prime” tires, meaning the hardest tires provided by Pirelli during a race weekend, and would not be allowed to cover more than 30% of the race distance with the same set of “option” tires, meaning the softest tires provided during a weekend. Thus, for a 60-lap race, drivers could complete a maximum stint of 30 laps with a set of “prime” tires and a maximum stint of 18-19 laps with a set of “option” tires.

But, furthermore, proposals aimed at promoting testing for Pirelli will be studied: thus, the teams are considering dedicating one of their eight private testing sessions during the season to tire tests or even reserving one of the pre-season private testing sessions for testing tires in wet conditions. Pirelli would have the choice of the day and would handle the track’s wetting.

All these measures must, in order to come into effect, be formally proposed by the Strategic Group and then adopted by the Formula 1 Commission and the FIA World Motor Sport Council.