Hard tyres to make first appearance at British GP

17 comments on “Hard tyres to make first appearance at British GP”

1. 

   Joao (@johnmilk)
   3rd May 2018, 12:39

   Question:

   Pirelli said that they would reduce the threads because tyres weren’t degrading (as expected??) and the solution if they hadn’t done so was to nominate harder compounds, which, by their admission would be more disruptive. This feels contradictory doesn’t it? Also they said this and they reduced the threads and went a step harder compared to last year?

   btw what is the thread made of? Rubber? If so the temperature that talk about is the outside surface?
   1. 

      @HoHum (@hohum)
      3rd May 2018, 22:24

      @johnmilk, actually it’s tread (no H) which usually means the grooved non-structural part of the tyre but on a “slick” it’s just the sticky rubber on the outside, English is hard enough without this sort of thing so I congratulate you on your excellent use of it.
      1. 

         Joao (@johnmilk)
         3rd May 2018, 23:05

         @hohum thanks! That small detail does help.
2. 

   Matteo (@m-bagattini)
   3rd May 2018, 13:27

   @johnmilk note that it is the tread thickness (“depth” here causes some confusion IMHO) that has been reduced. As far as I can understand:
   – new tarmac on these tracks causes lower wear
   – new tarmac also causes higher grip
   – more grip means higher temperatures
   – thinner tread helps reducing temperatures
   – also, since wear is lower, a thinner tread is feasible
3. 

   BlueChris (@bluechris)
   3rd May 2018, 13:39

   Great .. Silverstone is known for its high temps doh…
4. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   3rd May 2018, 13:40

   ”The range of tyres is one step harder than they used for the same race last year.”
   – Wrong, this season’s tyres are supposedly softer than last season’s, so, therefore, the hard of this season could actually be about the same durability-wise as the medium from the previous season. Even though the tyres this season are softer than last season, I still don’t really understand this choice. Is this a consequence of what happened to Ferrari in last season’s race?
   1. 

      Ju88sy (@)
      3rd May 2018, 14:24

      @jerejj This was my thought! The tyres are harder in name only, they are roughly equivalent to the tyres used in last years race. Still seems a conservative option in light of the reduced tread depth.
      1. 

         Jere (@jerejj)
         3rd May 2018, 15:18

         @ju88sy Agreed.
   2. 

      Nitzo (@webtel)
      3rd May 2018, 18:58

      @jerejj
      Dont see what the confusion is here.
      Last year’s SS is this year’s S/
      Last year’s Medium is this year Hard.
      Pirelli have been taking the “softer” route in tyre evolution.
      This has been the case for the last three years. If anything, they have retained their choices from last year with a change only in the name.

      ”The range of tyres is one step harder than they used for the same race last year.”

      Perhaps this statement is a little ambiguous…this describes the current selection for the British GP and not the season i guess.
      1. 

         Jere (@jerejj)
         3rd May 2018, 19:24

         @webtel ”Last year’s SS is this year’s S/Last year’s Medium is this year Hard.”
         – Yes. That indeed was my point, LOL.

         ”This has been the case for the last three years.”
         – Not exactly. Last season’s tyres are harder than the ones from the preceding season, so, therefore, 2017 ultrasoft, for example, is harder than its 2016 name-equivalent (during the 2017 Australian GP weekend, I read another user on this very same site claiming that last season’s US compound is even harder than the hardest 2016 compound), and the same with the supersoft, soft, etc., while this season vs. 2017 it’s the other way round meaning that this season’s US is softer than last season’s US, etc.
5. 

   Vettel fan 17 (@)
   3rd May 2018, 16:06

   For the first and most likely last time.
6. 

   @HoHum (@hohum)
   3rd May 2018, 22:27

   Good, now if only they would drop the mandatory pitstop.
7. 

   Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
   3rd May 2018, 23:22

   Too bad that Pirelli offers such a limited range of rubber this year. Had hoped, in the spirit of cost savings, like power units, Pirelli would supply the UberHard – designed to last 7 races per set.
8. 

   UNeedAFinn2Win (@uneedafinn2win)
   4th May 2018, 7:06

   They had trouble getting the tire temps up with the compound used in Baku with it’s many corners, how are they going to heat these hockey pucks in the fast flowing Silverstone circuit ? They could’ve driven Baku with the Ultrasofts from start to finish if they had to without the mandatory pitstop.
   1. 

      Dave F. (@dave-f)
      4th May 2018, 15:59

      No high speed corners at Baku, loads at Silverstone. See Mercedes debrief on YT for confirmation.
   2. 

      nase
      4th May 2018, 16:16

      @uneedafinn2win

      They had trouble getting the tire temps up with the compound used in Baku with it’s many corners, how are they going to heat these hockey pucks in the fast flowing Silverstone circuit ?

      Baku and Silverstone are two tracks with entirely different properties:
      Baku has smooth asphalt and almost exclusively 90° corners (or bends that are easily taken at full throttle), which put very little load on the tyres, except under breaking and acceleration. This, together with the low temperatures in Baku, made warming tyres up extremely difficult.
      Silverstone, however, has a very abrasive asphalt and is characterised (as you said) by many fast-flowing corners that keep an almost constant lateral load on the tyres, which means that overheating can happen very quickly.
      Additionally, Baku doesn’t really have many corners when compared to Silverstone. In fact, both circuits have roughly the same number of (official) turns and non-flat-out corners, distributed over roughly the same circuit length. The main difference lies in the fact that the cornering itself only makes up a minuscule fraction of the lap time in Baku, and cars spend much more time accelerating in a straight(ish) line, while the cars are almost constantly changing directions in Silverstone.

      They could’ve driven Baku with the Ultrasofts from start to finish if they had to without the mandatory pitstop.

      That’s inaccurate. The longest stint on Ultrasofts was Hartley’s 21-lap stint after his first-lap pit stop, including 5 laps behind the safety car. As he had started the race on Soft tyres, there was nothing stopping him from trying to complete the rest of the race on his second set of tyres. Nevertheless, he pitted again on lap 22, i.e. 17 laps after the previous safety car period, and 18 laps before the next safety car period.
      Another example would be Ericsson, who pitted for Ultrasoft tyres on lap 18. With only 33 laps to go, he nevertheless pitted again on lap 36, i.e. 4 laps before the Red Bulls caused a surprise safety car period.
      As for the cars that started on Ultrasofts (and didn’t crash out or pit for repairs immediately after the start), Sainz made it to lap 15 (tyre age: 18 laps) before his tyres were gone, and Gasly pitted after 12 laps.
      Therefore, 20 laps, give or take, seems to be the maximum distance possible on that compound before a massive performance drop.
9. 

   Dave F. (@dave-f)
   4th May 2018, 15:57

   “The range of tyres is one step harder than they used for the same race last year.”

   But as Pirelli said they made each compound ‘one step’ softer, it ends up being the same.

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