|
As has been the case for the
last two years, the P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft have been
nominated for the Monaco Grand Prix: the two softest tyres in Pirelli’s
range. Monaco is the slowest and most twisty circuit on the calendar, where
it is hard to overtake, so this makes rapid warm-up and high levels of
mechanical grip from the tyres essential. Nonetheless, wear and degradation
is also the lowest of the year: meaning that a maximum of two pit stops per
car should be the norm. Unlike every other grand prix, free practice takes
place on Thursday rather than Friday, which has a consequent effect on track
evolution – as the track is still open to normal traffic at certain points
during the grand prix weekend. In the past it has also rained at Monaco,
meaning that the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue wet tyres
could also come into play.
Paul Hembery: “In Monaco we’d expect an average of two pit stops per
car, because in complete contrast to the last race at Barcelona, Monaco has
very low tyre wear and degradation. This doesn’t make the race any less
strategic however, as in the past we have seen drivers trying completely
different strategies yet ending up very close to each other at the finish.
The last race in Spain was won from lower down on the grid than it has ever
been won before, so it will be interesting to see if this pattern can repeat
itself in Monaco: a track that is renowned for being difficult to overtake
on. Because of this, strategy will become even more important than usual,
with teams trying to use tactics to improve on their starting positions.”
Jean Alesi: “Monaco is a circuit that I’ve always absolutely loved: I
think I’ve been on the podium three times, set two fastest race laps, and in
my first race there I finished second, behind Ayrton Senna. My first taste
of the Monaco circuit was actually with Pirelli, when I was driving for
Tyrrell in 1990 and we had qualifying tyres. Driving on them was so much fun
and the whole place is simply magical. When you were out on a qualifying lap
the crowd used to just erupt…Qualifying as high up the grid as you can is
important, but maybe not quite as important as it used to be. We’ve seen
many times this year that the race is much more important, and with a good
strategy you can overcome a grid position that is not so good. So even if
qualifying isn’t perfect there is still the opportunity to do something
special and that is a big advantage that Pirelli has brought to Formula One.
Tyre wear and degradation is low in Monaco but it is still something you
have to think about because the circuit gains massively in grip over the
course of the weekend: perhaps more than anywhere else all year. You always
use the soft tyres at Monaco so you can push hard, which is a great
feeling.”
The circuit from a tyre point of view:
So far, there have been no safety car periods during the 2013 season. The
tight confines of Monaco, with its never-ending Armco and very little
run-off means that this is statistically likely to change. Along with
Singapore, Korea and Canada, Monaco has one of the highest probabilities of
safety car deployment all year, at around 80%. This will clearly have a
profound effect on the race strategy.
The top 10 finishers last year all employed a one-stop strategy, stopping at
about the lap 30 mark. All but two of them started the race on the supersoft
tyre and then moved onto the soft.
The Monte Carlo Grand Prix track has a record number of ‘leasts’ – as well
as being the slowest track of the year, the surface is also the least
abrasive of the whole season.
Technical tyre notes:
Monaco is particularly heavy on brakes. This transmits heat to the tyres,
which adds to the stress placed on the tyre structure. Entering Sainte
Devote, for example, the cars scrub off 160kph in just 100 metres. The tyres
also have extremely big demands placed on them in the swimming pool complex,
where they hit the kerbs at more than 200kph and experience lateral forces
of 3.65g.
The driver makes over 130 significant steering inputs during every lap at
the Monaco Grand Prix, changing gear on average every 50 metres. All of
these actions work the tyres extremely hard. The Loews hairpin is the
slowest corner of the season, taken at just 47kph. Due to the low speed
there is no aerodynamic downforce at work, so the full steering lock means
that the front-right tyre is doing all the work when it comes to changing
direction.
Meet the Pirelli F1 Team:
Tina Vajanszki – tyre fitter
Tina, one of Pirelli’s 18 tyre fitters, is British although her family
background is from Hungary. When she’s not at races she is based at
Pirelli’s United Kingdom logistics hub at Didcot and lives in Derbyshire.
She has been a tyre fitter since 2006 and has worked with Pirelli since the
Italian firm entered Formula One in 2011. Having studied mechanical
engineering at Birmingham Polytechnic, she started her F1 career driving
trucks, going to every European Formula One race from 2004 onwards, but then
moved into tyres.
Her role as a fitter is extremely varied. On arrival at the circuit her
first job is to allocate the correct tyres to the corresponding rims of each
team, following the list of barcodes that is supplied by the FIA (which
ensures that Pirelli has no influence in which tyres go to each team). She
then checks each bar code with the help of a bar code reader, the data from
which is later fed into Pirelli’s Race Tyre System.
Once the tyres are allocated, her duties consist of helping one of Pirelli’s
race engineers, with whom she works closely, during each session and
checking tyres afterwards. When she is back at base in Didcot the work is
mainly preparing the F1, GP2 and GP3 tyres as well as associated equipment
for the next event.
Away from Formula One her interests include running (which also keeps her
fit for what is a very physically demanding job) and motorcycling. She is a
keen supporter of football club Sheffield United, attending home and away
fixtures when time permits.
Other news from Pirelli:
The third round of the Italian Rally Championship took place the weekend
before the Monaco Grand Prix, the Rally dell’Adriatico. Pirelli-equipped
driver Umberto Scandola won the event in his factory Skoda Fabia S2000.
Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who won three titles with
Pirelli from 2008-2010, will also be at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend,
competing in the Porsche Supercup.
Pirelli recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of Lamborghini with a
special press conference and reception at the Italian tyre firm’s
headquarters in Milan. The very first production Lamborghini, the 1963 350
GTV, was launched on Pirelli tyres and Pirelli has supplied original
equipment for Lamborghini ever since. |
