Formula 1 is strongly taking into consideration the possibility of removing the initially planned reduction in maximum tyre blanket temperatures to 50°C for the 2023 F1 campaign, following several safety concerns raised by some drivers at the end of Pirelli’s 2023 tyre testing sessions, which was held two weeks ago in practice for the United States Grand Prix at COTA.
Tyre blankets will no longer be used starting with 2024, and in order to prepare for this change, Formula 1 official tyre supplier Pirelli wanted blanket temperatures to be lowered for the current season and for the next one. As a result, the FIA confirmed a reduction from 100°C (front) and 80°C (rear) in 2021 to 70°C (front and rear) this F1 campaign, with the cut to 50°C slated for 2023.
However, following the 2023 Pirelli development tyre test at COTA in the United States, using 50°C blanket temperatures, drivers pointed out that the warm-up phase was very difficult, which led to low grip levels and therefore a high risk of losing control of the car.
Given the drivers’ feedback, Pirelli then reverted to 70°C for last weekend’s second tyre testing session, which was held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, yet with the warm-up time limit at that level reduced from three to two hours with the goal of achieving its energy consumption targets.
“We listen to drivers,” Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Head of F1 & Car Racing, replied when asked about the feedback from drivers regarding the behaviour of the prototype tyres at COTA in the United States.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
“I don’t believe it’s dangerous, but in Austin, which is a high-energy circuit, we had some issues with the warm-up. Or, at least they had fresh in mind the warm-up at 70°C and if you test the tyre at 50°C, you can feel the difference. After listening to the drivers, we started to consider that if Austin is a high-severity circuit with very good weather conditions and they had an issue with a warm-up, what happens at street circuits, low-severity circuits with smooth Tarmac, or in poor conditions? The target is to ban blankets for 2024 and the idea was to go in this direction step-by-step. The plan is still in place, but looking at the test in Austin, it seems that 50°C is not a suitable option for next year. So we made some calculations of the energy consumption, considering different scenarios as we have some blankets in Milan that we used for our test. We found two hours is the time needed to warm up the tyre at 70°C, so we have an additional hour at the moment that is just maintaining the temperature. If, instead of going down to 50°C, we cut one hour [of the currently-permitted three hours at 70°C] we discovered that it is a lot more efficient, we save more energy and we don’t create any issue with the warm-up. So the drivers can go out and push, as they are doing now. That’s why we decided in Mexico to test the blankets at 70°C for two hours instead of three hours.” – Mario Isola continued.
Drivers had a much better feeling with the 70°C blanket temperatures at the end of the second free practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix and confirmed that they encountered less difficulties with the tyres and grip levels. The suggestion to continue with the approach for next season has received widespread support from the teams and drivers.
McLaren driver Lando Norris pointed out that “no driver wants it, basically” when asked about the 50°C blanket temperatures being used in the 2023 F1 season.
Mario Isola took part in the drivers’ briefing which was held on Friday ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix and confirmed that “everybody said we want to go for the 70°C for two hours [in 2023]”.
Pirelli has already finalised its tyre construction for the next season, that is designed to have stronger fronts which reduce the understeer balance seen at times during the current championship, with the compounds having to be finalised imminently ahead of the testing session for the final specification, which will take place after the final round of the current season.
The change is seen as an interim step for 2023 with the 2024 tyre-blanket ban still set to go ahead. This also means that the 2024 tyres will in fact be an all-new production instead of just the evolution Pirelli has produced for next F1 campaign:
“My feeling is that the right direction is to go for 70°C and two hours. What we collected in terms of information in Austin is useful for us for further developing the compounds. We know we have to make quite a big step to get rid of blankets in 2024. It’s not just redesigning the construction completely, it’s also redesigning all the five compounds. And we have now a test plan that we started to discuss with the FIA and FOM and soon with the teams to see if it is feasible. Obviously we need to test on track and that is the plan.” – Pirelli’s Head of F1 & Car Racing concluded.
The proposal has also gained support from the teams, as most of the teams confirmed it was a lot easier to deal with the challenge of tyre warm-up at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
Leave a Reply