The 2024 Components 1 season delivered its closing verdicts within the championship’s concluding act, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the 5.281-kilometre Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, however there are nonetheless many extremely fascinating insights to be drawn from the automobiles that characterised this championship, beginning with the truth that their performances exceeded expectations.
This theme was highlighted by the qualifying occasions at among the closing races of the 2024 Components 1 marketing campaign, the place, because of sure components, a larger-than-expected leap ahead in lap occasions was noticed, shocking not solely the groups but additionally Pirelli.
Talking in the course of the yr’s closing race weekend, the Italian producer defined how the speeds and enhancements achieved by the 2024 automobiles, each in lap occasions and cargo peaks, turned out to be larger than the simulations had predicted.
Yearly, Pirelli receives efficiency and growth simulations from the groups for the upcoming season to ascertain a reference for the potential hundreds on the tires. Along with its inner simulations, the producer makes use of crew information for comparability, together with long-distance simulations and extra detailed experiences shared simply weeks earlier than a Grand Prix.
It’s from evaluating the anticipated information in these simulations with the occasions and cargo peaks recorded on observe that notably fascinating insights emerged. “Within the final races, we witnessed a greater-than-expected efficiency enhance and noticed very excessive hundreds, particularly from two or three groups,” defined Simone Berra, Pirelli’s chief engineer, who intently analyzes this information to grasp the load ranges performing on every tire in the course of the Grands Prix.
“From the simulations, we normally have one for the tip of the season and one for mid-year, and nobody anticipated we’d see this stage of load. These load ranges are virtually past expectations.”
Even in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the step ahead was evident, with an enchancment of just about a second in comparison with the pole place time in 2023. This hole turns into much more pronounced when evaluating Lando Norris‘s 2024 pole time to the place McLaren was 12 months earlier, exceeding a full second. Observing the listing of enhancements all through the season clearly highlights the developments, notably on sure tracks.
By late November, Pirelli had already obtained simulations for the following season, that are at the moment underneath analysis and evaluation. For the 2025 Components 1 automobiles, nevertheless, the Italian producer has already taken steps in latest months as a way to tackle additional will increase in load, modifying tire development to raised reply to the anticipated load values from the groups, which can undoubtedly proceed to rise.
Because of this, it’s not anticipated that development will should be modified mid-season because it was in 2023, a really specific case the place Pirelli nonetheless reacted shortly. “We don’t wish to change the development in the course of the season as a result of we consider it’s not proper. We offer a specification, and this could stay the identical for the remainder of the season,” Simone Berra defined.
“For Silverstone final yr, the rationale was that the rise in stress on the tire was fairly vital, and we proposed this variation to enhance tire integrity. However we don’t count on to come across an identical scenario subsequent yr [in 2025], as the brand new construction has improved resistance to tire stress.”
Within the case of unexpected points and hundreds even larger than anticipated, one choice could possibly be to reply by rising tire pressures, a side that might successfully be evaluated on a race-by-race foundation relying on the circumstances. Nonetheless, Pirelli would like to not enhance pressures an excessive amount of, as this might have negative effects.
“We might react by adjusting the stress, however we would like to not elevate it an excessive amount of, and I feel the groups agree. It’s because rising stress can result in overheating and graining. So, we wish to maintain stress as little as potential,” added Simone Berra. It also needs to be famous that the brand new 2025 compounds have been designed and developed particularly to cut back graining, which in some instances this yr was barely above expectations.
Waiting for the 2025 Components 1 championship, there is a vital consideration: the event curve of the groups is not going to observe the identical trajectory seen this yr. That is partly as a result of the technical cycle is nearing its finish and partly as a result of the 2026 Components 1 season will deliver a serious technical revolution. Many groups are already working to find out one of the best window to shift focus from the 2025 automobiles to the brand new technical rules. Because of this, in contrast to 2024, when groups launched vital aerodynamic updates even till the ultimate Grands Prix, growth in 2025 could possibly be extra restrained.
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