Method 1’s sole tire provider, Pirelli, and the FIA have collaborated on an motion plan to assist keep away from a recurrence of the tire issues that plagued final 12 months’s Qatar Grand Prix, in line with data obtained by Motorsport.com.
When F1 returned to the revamped Lusail circuit in 2023, it confronted tire points attributable to harm from the brand new “pyramidal” curbs that had been put in. After the primary observe periods, Pirelli found microscopic fractures on the shoulder space between the tread and the carcass.
The difficulty was triggered by drivers operating over the brand new curbs, which featured a raised 50 mm edge, inflicting vital impacts when the tires went past the sting. The issue was exacerbated by the high-speed nature of the circuit.
Talking in regards to the causes of the problem on the time, Mario Isola, Pirelli’s head, stated: “It’s not simply the geometry of the curbs as a result of these curbs are used at many different circuits. What issues is the time and pace spent on the curbs.”
“Right here, through the lap, all of the drivers spend loads of time at excessive pace on the curbs, and this damages the development.”
Amid considerations that such harm may result in potential failures, the FIA intervened and imposed a most stint size of 18 laps for brand new tires through the race, successfully turning it right into a three-stop occasion.
To forestall a recurrence of those points, Pirelli and the FIA have labored extensively to make sure the tires keep away from an identical state of affairs this 12 months.
Essentially the most vital change will probably be to the monitor itself: the pyramidal-shaped curbs have been rounded off in seven of the circuit’s 16 corners. These embody the primary two corners, Flip 4, Flip 10, and the part from Flip 12 to Flip 14, the place tires have been most burdened final 12 months.
Forward of this 12 months’s WEC race on the circuit, the FIA said: “The ‘Misano’-type curbs on the Lusail Worldwide Circuit are the identical as these used at many different circuits worldwide, homologated by each the FIA and the FIM.”
“It was agreed with the circuit to scale back the height and sharp edges of the ‘Misano’-type curbs at a number of corners to attenuate the chance of harm when a automotive goes vast and returns. This modification was carried out in settlement with Method 1, and Pirelli was additionally knowledgeable.”
To additional discourage drivers from going too far off-track, the FIA has additionally put in a sequence of gravel strips past the monitor’s curbs.
Along with bodily work on the circuit, Pirelli carried out experiments on its dynamic take a look at benches at its R&D Motorsport Division in Milan to higher perceive the forces at play. This concerned utilizing tires on a pattern of the brand new curb design supplied by the FIA to find out whether or not the problems may recur.
Additional knowledge was collected from latest checks that some groups carried out in Qatar over the previous few weeks. Whereas testing with older automobiles didn’t contain utilizing race-specific tires for 2024, the suggestions gathered was helpful for correlating the work executed in Milan with real-world eventualities.
Since Lusail is without doubt one of the season’s most demanding circuits by way of power ranges, Pirelli will use the three hardest compounds in its vary.
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