Mario Isola, answering fan questions, explained what forced Pirelli to make some tire design changes during the season. This was due to the fact that the teams achieved a sharp increase in downforce while upgrading the cars – initially the tire manufacturers assumed that this would not happen until the end of the year.
Mario Isola, Head of Pirelli Motorsport: “We started the season with tires designed for heavier loads than we estimated the teams were actually reaching at the time, as we usually maintain a certain safety margin.
But the problem is that already in the third phase of the championship, the teams reached the level of workload that we only expected towards the end of the season. It is quite possible to assume that these taxes will increase even more towards the end of the year.
In that situation we had two options: one was to change the tire design, which we did. To do this, we replaced one of the materials used in tire production with another, which allowed to increase the integrity of the structure and its strength.
The second option was to increase the air pressure in the tires, but we know that the riders don’t like this approach. Therefore, after consultation with the FIA, we have decided to make changes to the design of the tires, which essentially do not affect the rubber’s performance, efficiency or balance.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
