Formula 1 awaits the arrival of the Australian GP, but before going to Melbourne for the third round of the world championship, Mario Isola is in Imola to follow the debut of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, where Pirelli is the only supplier of tires.
At Motorsport.com we have spoken with the head of Pirelli Motorsport to try to take stock of the first two Grands Prix of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
“We continue to collect data because we have discovered how different the 2022 F1 cars are from the cars we use in tire development tests,” explained the Italian.
“We had seen it in the simulations of the ground effect cars, because the aerodynamic package could not be simulated with the 2021 cars. However, we can say that the product features we were looking for were already there.”
Question: What are the main differences you have noticed?
Answer: During the lap, between one compound and another, it seems that the difference has grown compared to what we saw in the development tests. It is true that we have ridden on two completely different tracks in terms of their layout. Bahrain exerts longitudinal forces, has more jerking and braking, while Jeddah produces more lateral stresses, with less braking and acceleration stretches, but we have more or less confirmed things on both tracks.
For this reason, we are also going to do without the C4 compound in Australia, because in the tests we have noticed that the difference with the C3 was quite small in the times, so we are going to check it in Melbourne.
Q: The feeling is that the drivers have to manage the tires less than in the past…
A: What we have seen, and it is important to underline, is that the drivers can push. In the three compound options the behavior was different. Our goal is to have a hard tire that you can push on for long runs, a medium that has a bit of degradation but better performance to make it a good race tire, and then the soft, which is the most extreme, good for qualifying but not so much for the race. If they had different performance, but zero degradation there would be no point in taking them to the track. The objective is to push the teams to carry out different strategies.
Q: There have been nice battles on the track…
A: We have seen that, with the new aerodynamic package and the DRS, overtaking is possible, there has been a lot, not only at the front but also in the mid section. In Jeddah, the battle between Alonso, Ocon, Magnussen and Bottas was proof of this, they were fighting for many laps. This also changes the teams approach to strategy, the more difficult it is to overtake, the more one tends to go to one stop.
Q: What are the first indications given by the collected data?
A: For now, the balance is positive, and we are also getting an idea of what the products should be for 2023. The cars are very different from each other compared to the past, the construction philosophies are different and the balance has changed. . It is important to collect data from everyone to know how to advance towards the next season. We already have some ideas, we will do the first development test in Imola after the race on April 24. We will also collect information in Melbourne and from there we will try to understand what to do for the future.
Let’s say we started well, the goal was to have tighter and more closely fought races, with cars that can stay close and attack each other.
Q: Are the values well defined or will we see changes?
A: Surely we will have to wait a few races to draw conclusions and take stock. We expect major developments in the cars, because each team will compare their ideas with those seen in rival cars, and then the engineers will be able to understand how best to increase performance.
What I liked a lot in these first two races was seeing so many teams very close together. When there is such an important change in the regulations, two situations can be created: who better interprets the rules and escapes immediately, dominating the season, or you find yourself with several teams at odds.
Alpine was strong in qualifying, AlphaTauri set good times, as did Alfa Romeo. So it’s not just Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes, when you catch up. It’s nice to have a tight championship, but it’s also true that there are 23 races and a budget limit to respect. This is going to force the teams to pay attention to development, to do the calculations well and to provide solutions that really give results. Before, there was no such limitation, so developing and contributing many solutions often did not mean making a profit.
Q: With the 18-inch tyres, are F1, GTs and road cars any closer?
A: We have a product that, now that it is 18 inches, is much closer to the street one, for which we also work with experience on the track. In F1 we develop virtual models of tires and materials, which are then useful in supercars. Now we also have the same size, so we can understand how the different tires work in support and much more.
We have a closer product between F1 and GT. The cars are very different in terms of their characteristics, but in GT and other categories, such as F2, we already knew about low-profile tyres. So the switch to 18-inch tires in F1 was not a leap into the unknown. But it’s still true that GTs don’t put as much pressure on the tire as F1 does.
Q: The performance of the Formula 1 has been higher than expected
A: I was very surprised. At Bahrain, a track not very ‘friendly’ to the new aerodynamic concept, due to its low speed corners where the cars have less load, times were just 1.5 seconds slower than last year. In Jeddah, they ran very close to the 2021 times, despite the fact that the single-seaters were still ‘immature’. We started by saying that maybe by the end of the year the 2022 F1s would be as fast as the 2021s, but I would say they will probably get there sooner.
Q: Some championships, like Formula E or ETCR use the same tire for the whole weekend, will it be possible to reach a similar solution in GT?
A: I think everything can be done, but it clearly depends on the decisions made with the promoter. In GT and F1 I think it is necessary to continue having a slick tire and a wet tire, but we can reflect on the number of tires to be supplied during the weekend and the sustainability of the product, which is what we are doing. Pirelli has been the only tire manufacturer to have been awarded three stars by the FIA for sustainability, which is a sign that what we do is also good in this regard.
We have shown that throughout the production chain, from raw materials to the end of the tire’s useful life, through logistics and the use of energy from renewable sources, we are very careful, maintaining the high performance of motorsport, but with an eye on sustainability. There are always ideas and innovations to develop, not only in F1 but also in other championships, because Pirelli uses motorsport to develop new technologies.
Q: Does the FIA give directions or set limits?
A: Depending on the type of championship, there are different working groups. There is a “tyre working group”, organized by the FIA and in which all the tire manufacturers participate. It talks about all the championships, to identify the motorsport lines of the future or to solve specific problems.
Dialogue with the FIA is ongoing, and F1 has drawn up a document called the ‘Letter of Objectives’, which identifies specific parameters for tire development. Since it is impossible to satisfy everyone, as the needs of drivers, promoters and teams are different, it was decided to write a 3-4 page document defining the objectives. It was signed by the FIA, the FOM, the teams and the drivers, so that everyone agreed.
