The temperature of thermal covers can stay the same

In Formula 1, they can abandon their original plans in 2023 to lower the temperature of thermal covers to 50 degrees to warm the rubber. After the tire tests conducted during the days of the US Grand Prix, riders expressed fears that this would lead to an increase in the risk of accidents.

In 2024, thermal covers will be banned altogether and Pirelli assumed that the transition should be gradual, so already this season the temperature of thermal covers was lowered to 70 degrees, and in 2023 it was planned to drop further to 50 degrees.

In Austin, during the Pirelli tests, the teams and drivers first tested such a temperature regime for warming up rubber, and the results of this experiment did not please them: it turned out to be much more difficult to achieve efficient operation of the tires, the grip level was too low, which increases the risks.

As a result, Italian tire manufacturers in Mexico City, where Pirelli tests continued, reduced the temperature of thermal covers to the previous level of 70 degrees.

“We listen to the riders’ opinions,” Mario Isola, head of Pirelli racing programs, is quoted as saying by The Race. – In Austin, where the load on the rubber is high, we had some problems with the warming up, although I don’t think it’s dangerous.

However, if you remember that you have just warmed up the tires to 70 degrees, and during the tests with rubber that has only warmed up to 50 degrees, you will feel the difference. After listening to the drivers, we thought: if even in Austin there were problems with the rubber warming up in good weather, what happens on street tracks with a smooth surface, where the load on the rubber is less, or in bad weather ?

The goal is to phase out thermal covers by 2024, and the idea was to gradually move in that direction. Such plans are still in place, but after analyzing the test results in Austin, we don’t think lowering the temperature to 50 degrees for next year is an option.

We made some calculations and considered different scenarios, because at the base in Milan we have the same thermal covers that were used in the tests. We learned that it takes two hours for a tire to warm up to 70 degrees, so we now have an extra hour to keep the tires warm.

If we instead lower it to 50 degrees, the heat-up time can be reduced by an hour (now, when the rubber heats up to 70 degrees, it takes three hours), and this is a much more economical mode, reducing energy consumption. In this case, there should be no problems with heating the rubber. As a result, during the tests in Mexico City, we decided to work with thermal covers at a temperature of 70 degrees, but to use them for two hours instead of three.

After tire tests in Mexico City, where the tires warmed up to their usual level, and there were no complaints from the riders, everyone supported the proposal to keep the temperature of thermal covers at 70 degrees by 2023. The general opinion was expressed by Lando Norris, a McLaren racer, who said that “no one wants to lower it to 50 degrees.”

According to Isola, who took part in the pilots’ briefing in Mexico City, everyone was in favor of warming the tires to 70 degrees for two hours by 2023.

Pirelli has already made a decision on next year’s tire design: the front tires should offer more grip to reduce understeer. The Italian tire manufacturers are continuing to work on the compounds, but the whole line should finally be ready for the tests to be held in Abu Dhabi after the season.

But these changes are temporary, as plans to phase out the use of thermal covers by 2024 remain in place, requiring the creation of an entirely new rubber.

“In my opinion, it is the right decision to go to a two-hour warm-up period and leave the temperature of the thermal covers at 70 degrees,” continues Isola. – In Austin, we have collected a lot of useful information that will be useful in further work with the compositions. We know we need to take a pretty big step forward to phase out thermal covers by 2024, and this will require not only a complete overhaul of tire design, but an overhaul of all five connections as well.

We already have a test plan for 2023, which we have started to discuss with the FIA ​​and FOM, and will share it with the teams shortly to see how realistic it is. We are, of course, talking about real tests on the track.