New Pirelli Tires from Canada

After facing numerous criticisms since the beginning of the season and during the last race weekend in Barcelona, Pirelli has decided to respond and the Italian brand announced that new compounds will be introduced starting from the Canadian Grand Prix, which will take place on June 9th.

Paul Hembery stated in a press release that following Fernando Alonso’s victory with four pit stops in Barcelona, changes have been decided and he also explained that the new tires would be a mix between those from 2012 and those from 2013: Our goal is to provide teams with a new range that will combine the stability of the 2012 tires with the performance of the current tires. As a company, we have always acted quickly to make improvements we deem necessary. After evaluating the data from the first few races this year, we decided to introduce new evolutions as it became clear during the Spanish Grand Prix that the number of pit stops was too high. The Spanish Grand Prix was won with four stops, which has only happened once before in our history. These changes also mean that the tires will not be subjected to as much strain, which will reduce the number of stops.

The director of Pirelli’s motorsport division also admitted that the restrictions on testing did not help teams to properly get to grips with these new tires. He also mentioned that the temperature gap between the tests and the first Grand Prix races of the season was a source of problems, and he hopes new testing destinations will be decided from 2014: « With limited testing, it is now clear that our 2013 tire range was probably too performance-oriented for the current rules. However, having identified this issue, we are determined to resolve it quickly. It should also be noted that current pre-season testing constraints limit the opportunity to test the tires under the same conditions as during the season due to the low temperatures and limited time. The teams share the same opinion, so we want more extensive testing and to visit different locations for upcoming tests. »

However, according to several F1 observers, these changes are not expected to be major because Pirelli does not want to significantly alter the current hierarchy, which sees Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes struggling more with their tires than Ferrari, Lotus, or Sahara Force India.

Another point raised by Paul Hembery was the fact that Pirelli is using a 2010 car, which is three years old and much less aerodynamically efficient than current cars and therefore slower, which does not help as a working base. But there is little chance this will change because the teams will not want to provide a more recent car, at the risk of one of them being favored.