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From the Nurburgring in Germany,
the teams head to a completely contrasting venue for the Hungarian Grand
Prix: the final race before the summer break. Pirelli brings the P Zero
White medium and P Zero Yellow soft compounds to the Hungaroring, close to
Budapest. This is actually the same nomination as last year, but with the
compounds being softer this year, there is even more performance. The
construction of the tyres has changed as well, with the 2012 structure
matched with the 2013 compounds. These tyres were successfully tested at
Silverstone last week, with the teams collecting plenty of data that will be
useful for the future. Conditions at the Hungaroring are normally hot and
sunny, which increases the work for the tyres. However, average speeds are
low at the tight and twisty Hungaroring, which affects the usual pattern of
wear and degradation. Rain is not unknown however, so as usual Pirelli will
bring the Cinturato Green intermediates and Cinturato Blue full wets as
well.
Paul Hembery: “Hungary marks the first event for our latest
specification P Zero tyres, which consist of the 2012 construction matched
to the 2013 compounds. These tyres were tried out by the teams at
Silverstone during the young driver test, who benefitted from the
opportunity to adapt the set-up of their cars to best suit the new tyres.
Now they get to use them in competition for the first time, and with
qualifying particularly important at the Hungaroring, the work done in free
practice will be very important. Overtaking at this circuit is never an easy
task, so the teams will be looking to use strategy to maximise their
opportunities to gain track position. The selection of medium and soft tyres
should provide plenty of chances to help them do that, based on the data
that all the teams gain with different fuel loads in free practice.
Temperatures in Hungary can be very high, and this is the other factor on
which the levels of wear and degradation experienced will depend. Traction
and braking are two critical aspects of tyre performance in Hungary, with
the teams running a set-up designed to emphasise these key areas. With
levels of lateral energy relatively low, tyre performance rather than
durability will be the limiting factor and this will form the basis of the
strategy selected – with the teams aiming to keep the tyres within the peak
window of operating performance for as long as possible. The design of our
latest tyres should help them to do this.”
Jean Alesi: “The Hungaroring is a circuit where it is really
difficult to overtake, although they did make the straight a bit longer a
few years ago to provide more passing opportunities, which helped a bit. So
this means that qualifying as well as you can is extremely important. There
is some tyre degradation, but it comes from traction and braking rather than
high-energy corners: you have to make sure that your tyres do not go off at
the end of a stint in particular. Although I’ve been on the podium it’s
never been a track that is especially exciting to drive. But it’s a very
important race for Formula One history and culture: when I first raced
there, Hungary was still behind the Iron Curtain, and the grand prix was
just one of those things that brought change to so many countries in that
area, which were still Communist at the time. It was an incredibly exciting
period of history and the race was a symbol of the liberation that was to
come. Those days are gone now, but the fans are still as passionate as
always and this is why it is always a pleasure to come here.”
The circuit from a tyre point of view:
The Hungaroring is a permanent circuit built in 1986 but in many ways its
characteristics are similar to those of a street circuit. It’s a tight and
twisty track with 14 corners and an average speed in the region of 180kph:
this makes it the second-slowest circuit of the year after Monaco. The cars
actually spend a lower proportion of the lap on full throttle than they do
even in Monaco. Ten of the 14 corners are taken at 155kph or lower.
The circuit is not extensively used for many other races during the year,
which means that the surface is often ‘green’ at the start of the weekend.
As more cars run through the track a clean line emerges, but because there
is only one clear line around the narrow circuit, a lot of dirt, dust and
marbles accumulate off the racing line, making the problem of overtaking
even harder.
The large number of narrow corners and big steering inputs mean that the
edges of the tyres are subjected to peaks of temperature and wear. The tyres
can sometimes overheat more on a slow and twisty track than on a fast and
flowing track.
Technical tyre notes:
The Hungaroring requires a high-downforce set-up, as the cars are on full
throttle for only around 10 seconds over the course of the 4.381 kilometre
lap.
The top three all selected two-stop strategies last year, although they used
their tyre allocation in different ways. The top 10 on the grid all started
on the soft tyre; the highest-placed starter on the medium tyre was Mark
Webber in 11th, who finished the race eighth.
The performance gap between the medium and soft tyre is likely to be around
a second per lap.
Meet the Pirelli F1 Team:
Matt Watts, Tyre Fitter Team Leader
Matt, who has been with Pirelli’s Formula One operation from the beginning,
is English and lives in Faringdon, not far from the company’s logistics hub
in Didcot where he is based. After leaving school he immediately specialised
in the automotive sector, starting his career in motor vehicle body repair
before moving into selling car parts and accessories. At this point he
seemed set for a long-term career change as Matt then started managing bars
and live music venues. So as he puts it himself, he came into Formula One
“by mistake”.
In 1996 he was asked to take a truckload of tyres down to a test in Jerez.
He enjoyed the experience and has been involved in Formula One tyres ever
since. His first grand prix was Australia in 1997. He was soon converted to
the joys of working in different places and has never looked back since…
His job consists of overseeing the team of 19 fitters that travels to each
grand prix. He liaises between the engineering team and fitting crew,
accommodating any special requests, and ensuring that the fitting service
runs efficiently and smoothly at every race.
When Matt is at home – which is not that often – he enjoys spending time
with his nine year-old son and catching up with the latest films and music.
He used to go running, and although this has fallen by the wayside recently,
he’s determined to get back into it. The regular track runners have been
warned…
Other news from Pirelli:
Pirelli completed three days of young driver testing at Silverstone last
week, with the regular race drivers allowed to take part as well. Reigning
world champion Sebastian Vettel was fastest over the three days, while the
fastest rookie was Carlos Sainz Junior. The Spaniard is the son of Carlos
Sainz, who won two World Rally Championship titles with Pirelli in 1990 and
1992.
Skoda Italia driver Umberto Scandola won the latest round of the Italian
Rally Championship, the all-gravel Rally San Marino. It was an all-Pirelli
podium, with Giandomenico Basso and Mauro Trentin finishing second and
third.
Pirelli has just launched a new range of ‘quiet’ tyres for Audi, with a
special noise-absorbing insert that can reduce interior and exterior noise
by 50%. The insert increases comfort, but does not affect any of the other
high-performance characteristics of the tyre. |
