Lewis Hamilton explained how to work with tires

Lewis Hamilton is one of those drivers who knows how to work very well with tires, and this quality has long been one of the secrets of his success. The seven-time world champion spoke about the key principles that need to be followed to arrive at the right approach to tires.

In order for the tires to withstand a certain number of laps during the race without losing speed, you always have to look for certain compromises, because Pirelli tires were originally created with the expectation that they would race would wear out, leading to an increase in the number of pit stops and adding to the Grand Prix course with some tactical variation.

At the start of the weekend, the racers analyze the behavior of the tires during practice together with their teams, trying to find patterns, but all this is more of an art than an exact science, and not everyone succeeds.

“It all depends on how much the tire slides on the tarmac, and that depends on the balance of the chassis,” Speedcafe quotes Hamilton. – If the wings are adjusted to too high an angle of attack and the downforce at the front of the car is too high, the car will behave like a see-saw.

At the beginning of the segment you want the car to have some tendency to understeer, because as the rear tires wear, the ‘swing’ moves in the opposite direction and oversteer begins.

And if the car tends to skid, you usually lose momentum. But on those circuits where problems occur with the front tires, things can be different.”

It takes time to understand the characteristics of balance, and Oscar Piastri, who only made his Formula 1 debut with McLaren this year, for example, admits that he has been paying special attention to this all season but has not yet understood it . everything.

“Finding the right chassis balance is very difficult,” Hamilton continued. – For example, you go onto the track with soft tires, and these need their own settings, not the same as those for Medium tires. I believe that only then, only by analyzing the behavior of the tires in all three sectors of the circle, can you understand how to act, where you can attack and where not.”

It is worth adding that drivers sometimes also need to save fuel, for which they need to let off the gas in certain parts of the circle and the coast, and they also need to choose the right distance from the opponent driving in front (unless , of course, it is necessary to attack him immediately) to avoid overheating of the tires and the car as a whole – these are all very specific skills developed and honed over the years.

At first glance, this seems to contradict the usual understanding of the essence of racing, because it seems that the task of their participants comes down to covering the distance as quickly as possible. In fact, it is important not only to be able to drive at the highest possible speeds, but also to be fast enough, exactly when it really matters.