Testing and the tyre debate

Today is the start of the first in season test since 2008, held at Mugello, Italy. All teams apart from HRT will be attending, and all will most certainly be trying out a vast array of updates as the European season kicks off in Spain a week on Sunday.

During the first four flyaway races there has been little time to do any big upgrades to the cars so this is an essential three days to improve and hone the cars, especially with regard to making sure they can work the Pirelli tyres properly, something which is crucial to success so far this season.

And this is where I’m going with this blog; the Pirelli tyres have been attracting a fair amount of debate in the Formula 1 press this past week. Finding the sweet spot where these tyres operate in a successful tandem with the cars has resulted in four manufacturers winning the first four races.

And people are concerned, and it’s not just some of the drivers. Criticism has also come from some Formula 1 commentators including Sky’s Martin Brundle, who sees the tyres perhaps being too influential in the outcome of Grand Prix.

There are contrasting views of course, epitomised by the Mercedes drivers. Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg offer very different perspectives. Schumacher questioned whether the Pirelli tyres should be made to last longer as he felt this wasn’t real racing. He wants it so ‘that you can drive at normal racing car speed and not cruise around like we have a safety car.’

Certainly we do have a lot of chatter on the radio about conserving tyres constantly, which doesn’t allow drivers to push. Reading the F1 media, other drivers privately agree with this assessment by Schumacher.

Alternatively Nico Rosberg had this to say to Autosport.com "We have seen already this year that when you go from one condition to another, one racetrack to another, one temperature to another... different cars are better on the tyres, so there's a very big engineering challenge to understand why, to adapt and to try and be the one to understand the tyres best. That can be a very big key for the season, so we're pushing hard to try and understand that quicker than others.

"Personally, I think it's great for the season. We've had four winners in four races, [so it is] all mixed up. It couldn't be better for Formula 1. Also within the races, with the tyre degradation and with lots of overtaking, we've had lots of exciting races."

In a way, I do think it has become a bit too overly reliant on tyres and perhaps too much of a conservation Formula. I’d like to know that the drivers are going all out and not constantly hearing engineers tell their drivers to slow down to save the tyres. Its also comes across as being a bit of a lottery, which team will suit this particular temperature today?

However, I find myself agreeing with Nico Rosberg’s point of view. You can’t really argue that the racing has been outstanding this year. It is up to the teams to set their car up and develop their car so that they can create a wider operating window for the tyres to work at their full potential. This is what Formula 1 is also about, finding the solutions to problems.

It’s also worth remembering that it is the same for everyone out there. Just like when in the early part of this century Schumacher and Ferrari were able to maximise their situation with Bridgestone tyres, where you hardly ever had more than 20 laps worth of fuel on board with tyres which never went off and you could basically drive as hard as you could. And this favoured his approach.

The other side of the coin though is that drivers like Jenson Button for instance (despite winning his title while refuelling was still allowed) who’s very good at looking after the tyres, didn’t really have the opportunity to use that skill as much as he does now. Different skills for different occasions, Formula 1 is in constant evolution; you’ve just got to do your best and adapt the quickest at a given time if you want to win.

Besides this, Pirelli have said this issue will go away once the teams understand them. "The engineers are the best you will ever find in the automotive world. They are exceptional and in two or three races they will have understood the challenge that they have in front of them and we won't be having this type of conversation [about tyres].”

So with the test underway, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren, Lotus etc will all be searching not just for aerodynamic progression, but to understand the tyres and exploit them better and quicker than everyone else.

This test is most important for Ferrari, they’re another team who need to understand the tyres more but they also have more fundamental problems. They’ve worked themselves into a competitive points position, now they need a competitive speed solution. The next three days could be crucial to the rest of the season as they set themselves up for Europe.