A gain of 3 seconds per lap in 2015 according to Pirelli
Pirelli announced that the 2015 Formula 1 cars could be up to three seconds faster per lap than in 2014. Such an improvement represents a challenge for the Italian manufacturer.
If since the introduction of hybrid V6s last year, Formula 1 had lost a little bit of its speed, this trend should reverse as early as the upcoming season, according to Pirelli’s estimates.
Controversies regarding a slowdown of the cars in 2014 should quickly die down if we are to believe the words of Paul Hembery, the director of the Italian firm that has been supplying tires in F1 since 2011: “Our data suggests there could be a big leap forward,” the engineer told *Autosport*, based on simulations from the first pre-season tests (which will take place from February at the Jerez track in Spain).
« The teams had the opportunity to make changes during the winter, particularly in the area of traction, and we expect, starting in Melbourne or at the latest in China, to truly see a significant leap forward compared to last season », he continued.
Hembery even predicts a gain of three seconds per lap, which would bring the new V6 engines to the level of the old V8 engines abandoned at the end of 2013: (…) I think we are maybe talking about two to three seconds per lap faster than last season. It’s a huge difference. This means, in the field of tires, that a choice that seemed more conservative last year will be more aggressive this year.
