This season has had its fair share of ups and downs and has
added more acronyms than you can shake a stick at with the DRS
(Drag Reduction System, an extra 10-15kph boost at a pre-defined
part or parts of the track), the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery
Systems, an extra 6.7 second 80bhp power boost) along with most
teams using some form of blown diffusers (where the exhaust gas is
directed in a way to increase downforce, usually through the rear
of the floor although this is banned in the 2012 rules). However
the biggest game changer in the 2011 season was the return of
Pirelli to Formula One after a 20 year break.
In June 2010 after Bridgestone announced it was withdrawing from
F1 after 14 consecutive seasons, Pirelli was announced as the sole
supplier and was given the brief "to create a compound that will
force two to three pit stops each race and create the tyre
degradation that will result in cars travelling at different speeds
and foster more overtaking". After over six months of rubber
development and testing with Pirelli test and ex-F1 driver Nick
Heidfeld they came to the first winter testing session in Valencia
with four slick dry compounds, one intermediate and one full wet.
These were distinguishable by the outside logo colour on each tyre,
Super Soft (red), Soft (yellow), Medium (white) and Hard (silver)
with a blue colour for the Intermediate and orange for the full
wets.
The proof was in the pudding (so to speak) when the first grand
prix of the 2011 season, Australia, was staged. The Pirelli tyres
lasted around 20 laps. For the next grand prix on the calendar,
Malaysia, the tyres only lasted around 15 laps for most of the top
runners. However in Monaco Sebastian Vettel managed to keep one set
of tyres from lap 16 to lap 72 - a total of 57 laps (he later went
on to claim victory in that race).
However, these tyres are far from perfect, team bosses and
drivers (top and bottom teams) alike have voiced publicly the issue
of marbles. Marbles are small strips of rubber around 10-20 grams
in weight that are shed from the tyre as it degrades and are
deposited just off the racing line on the track. Marbles cause the
area (especially at the end of grand prixs) to become 'slippy' in
F1 terms and cause the car on them to lose speed or not accelerate
as quickly due to lack of grip on the track.
It has caused several F1 drivers (including the current World
Champion Sebastian Vettel, former World Champion Fernando Alonso
and Force India driver Paul Di Resta) to question the safety of
these marbles on the track and for drivers in general, in
particular at high tyre wear circuits like Malaysia.
For these reasons, the marbles actually discourage drivers from
going off the racing line and therefore overtaking, which is what
these tyres were designed to encourage and while Pirelli has
publicly stated that it will be looking into compounds that create
less of these marbles we have to wonder whether it is worth it? It
is the trade off for higher tyre wear in races (which may or may
not contribute to the overall strategy of the team and therefore
the excitement of F1) against the marbles that make going off-line
a costly move at best or a dangerous, potentially race ending
(although nobody to date has gone off purely due to marbles alone)
one at worst?
So while there is little to be done for the 2011 season, looking
forward to 2012, what rules could be put in place to ensure the
best racing is gained? Could it be as simple as even using higher
wearing tyres (to stop the 57 laps on one set strategy), or could
it be to use tyres that produce less marbles to make it less of a
hindrance for cars that choose to go off-line and overtake? Or
should the rule-makers implement a set of new rules forcing teams
that race in the same category to choose different tyre strategies?
Or is that as crazy as the sprinkler system to artificially create
wet tracks (although that had a lot of support)?
In the end the tyres are set for the season and it's been a big
learning curve for both Pirelli and the teams week in week out. But
for all the issues and complaints from the drivers, teams and fans
alike, have Pirelli actually got it right? It's a far cry from the
disastrous US grand prix in 2005 when Michelin declared that it was
unsafe to drive their tyres on the track due to increased lateral
loads which led to the farce that was six cars out of twenty
actually racing. Pirelli have managed to deliver what was asked of
them (no small feat), and in a small space of time. Are we as fans
asking too much, or only asking for what should be in place to
maximise the potentially of these technologically advanced
machines?
What do you think?