Pirelli’s preliminary evaluation of tyres utilized in apply at Components 1’s 2024 Qatar Grand Prix has revealed no proof that the issues that blighted final yr’s race will probably be repeated.
F1’s sporting guidelines for the 2023 Qatar GP needed to be altered so a one-off mandated three-stop race would happen on the Losail circuit after injury was found in tyres used on lengthy runs earlier that weekend.
It was feared this injury may result in potential tyre failures at a really high-speed format and so the race – finally gained by Purple Bull’s Max Verstappen – passed off with prescribed most stint lengths of 18 laps to minimise the protection threat.
Pirelli usually exams three or 4 units of randomly chosen tyres after every apply session for security evaluation, which entails slicing sections of sidewall and the principle floor tread and checking the layers inside for the microscopic separations within the sidewalls between the topping compounds and the carcass cords that had been detected right here final yr.
After the only real apply session in Qatar this time, Pirelli doubled that checking unfold to eight units and thus far the Italian producer is happy the modifications made to spherical off the highest of the ‘pyramid’ kerbs put in right here final yr, in addition to a lot decrease temperatures this time round, have diminished the stress on the tyres.
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“Based mostly on what occurred final yr, we checked a number of the tyres from FP1,” mentioned Pirelli chief engineer Simone Berra. “For the time being, we didn’t see what we’ve got seen final yr.
“So, it appears that evidently all of the modifications we’ve got made along with the help from F1 and the FIA had an affect, which is one thing optimistic. We’re actually pleased with that.
“We simulated the brand new CAD geometry [of the tyres] with the trip on the kerbs and the outcomes we discovered are consistent with what we are actually experiencing on monitor.”
However with stint lengths in FP1 on a dash weekend restricted in size as a consequence of its time constraint, the most important pre-GP take a look at for the tyres in Qatar stays the occasion’s dash race, which is able to happen over 19 laps
Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, mentioned on Friday that “hopefully the work Pirelli have achieved with the circuit to switch the kerbs, with their simulations, means we don’t have a scenario like final yr the place out of the blue you will have prescribed stint lengths”.
However, Shovlin added: “The primary good knowledge for that’s going to come back from the dash race.”
Nonetheless, Pirelli is inspired that it has thus far not encountered the “indicators” one thing was already amiss with its tyres at this stage within the 2023 occasion.
“Clearly, we’ll see the outcomes after the dash, which is extra consultant of longer runs – extra mileage, pushing, battling, combating,” mentioned Berra.
“We can have a definitive reply tomorrow, however for the second it’s extremely optimistic as a result of final yr at the moment we already had some indicators about doable points on the tyres.”
Extra reporting by Jonathan Noble and Stuart Codling.
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Alex Kalinauckas
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