Drivers unhappy with “slow” new hard tyre

2011 Spanish GP FP2 analysis

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Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, Barcelona, 2011

Several F1 drivers voiced complaints about Pirelli’s new hard tyre introduced at the Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.

Kamui Kobayashi said: “The new superhard compound gives you the feeling you are driving a totally different car. They are so slow.

“This is going to be tricky for everyone and might produce interesting tyre strategies in the race.”

Lewis Hamilton was more critical, describing them as “disastrous”.

The new compounds were supposed to allow drivers to run slightly longer stints, opening up new strategic options.

But the compound has proved very slow. Rubens Barrichello was told during the course of the second practice session they were around two seconds per lap slower.

Here is the data from the second practice session:

Longest stint comparison

  • The harder tyre appear to last reasonably well – see Mark Webber’s stint from the beginning of the session below. But they are clearly lacking in performance – though consistent, his lap times are in the 1’29s
  • Jenson Button couldn’t mnake the tyres last as well as Webber could, and Ferrari didn’t do a run of comparable length

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

123456789101112131415161718
Sebastian Vettel88.6588.26388.01188.7798.19888.59496.58188.751101.81191.95389.07489.67797.55390.341
Mark Webber91.86690.59590.7290.76290.01289.12889.39789.57889.66689.71689.55589.73389.55197.31989.282
Lewis Hamilton89.36789.18888.3294.92989.46791.95489.48489.747
Jenson Button91.18190.21289.97390.49392.27389.42589.15590.21189.47390.3894.20690.33990.97193.837
Fernando Alonso85.70795.7385.44594.13389.73286.73
Felipe Massa88.0186.83686.59790.71988.55786.361
Michael Schumacher90.70690.78991.85990.21690.34790.53591.04492.64794.05993.379
Nico Rosberg95.00190.37590.34490.6290.20996.725
Nick Heidfeld96.47490.67490.36596.69889.91390.32590.37890.67193.01492.42791.64992.321
Vitaly Petrov92.0899291.87392.84891.08891.86991.95495.11891.94491.57692.08992.11392.00792.60791.84892.13392.38192.821
Rubens Barrichello91.10590.63393.44390.78191.10692.11391.6291.88192.10492.27492.379
Pastor Maldonado93.37192.61992.58192.66892.63192.59492.19592.63292.84592.9192.88192.92592.74692.34892.76492.54393.977
Adrian Sutil100.59388.60587.12394.47988.508
Paul di Resta91.34192.30692.2291.94191.37891.65492.11492.185
Kamui Kobayashi90.1790.9290.492.10591.08290.79491.85491.30891.03791.446
Sergio Perez92.20891.73291.62492.81794.54392.5592.06892.33991.583
Sebastien Buemi90.81491.25591.69890.93991.4691.15491.01391.628
Jaime Alguersuari93.27992.30792.45792.21892.5692.28392.59592.30292.49992.21994.99693.13994.67593.98693.53
Heikki Kovalainen91.43392.4290.9393.07392.02491.76891.56491.05890.89991.111
Jarno Trulli87.31194.58987.18989.28589.90188.14489.4289.997
Narain Karthikeyan95.83995.0894.48595.224
Vitantonio Liuzzi93.30393.04792.97692.90793.29994.50694.793.33694.88793.78994.80696.85
Timo Glock91.9992.48788.7107.85988.062
Jerome dAmbrosio95.5495.51795.86895.23796.76194.90995.31595.09795.67295.349

Ultimate lap times

  • Unusually, Sebastian Vettel found himself behind his team mate, although he does have some time in hand
  • Fernando Alonso was delayed by Nick Heidfeld on his fastest lap, and should be able to go at least two tenths of a second quicker
  • The ultimate laps of both HRTs were outside 1.7% of Webber’s time by over a second. They will be hoping the fastest cars do not use soft tyres in Q1 or they may not qualify
CarDriverCarUltimate lapGapDeficit to best
12Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’22.4700.000
23Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’22.5090.0390.000
31Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’22.6950.2250.131
44Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’23.1880.7180.000
55Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’23.3560.8860.212
68Nico RosbergMercedes1’23.5861.1160.000
77Michael SchumacherMercedes1’23.6621.1920.319
816Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’24.2311.7610.059
99Nick HeidfeldRenault1’24.2431.7730.123
106Felipe MassaFerrari1’24.2781.8080.000
1117Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’24.4171.9470.066
1210Vitaly PetrovRenault1’24.7292.2590.057
1319Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’25.0072.5370.450
1411Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’25.0422.5720.261
1518Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’25.2962.8260.000
1612Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth1’25.6033.1330.000
1715Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’26.0733.6030.000
1820Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault1’26.4173.9470.000
1914Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’26.8114.3410.312
2021Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault1’26.9684.4980.221
2124Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’27.9255.4550.137
2225Jerome d’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth1’28.0365.5660.000
2322Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth1’29.2536.7830.216
2423Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth1’29.4696.9990.007

Complete practice times

  • Both Virgins were well clear of the HRTs. Colin Kolles said: “The time sheet doesn’t look too good today but I’m positive because I know what we have done and I think tomorrow we will see the real performance of the car. We only did long runs and were not running on low levels of fuel.”
  • Sauber looked promising in both sessions and on the strength of this should be in contention for places in Q3
  • Despite their updated car Force India are languishing among the Lotuses. an Sutil believes there’s more performance to come, saying: “I ran with all our new aero parts this morning and in the afternoon, but to be honest we haven’t managed to find the sweet spot yet.”
CarDriverCarBest lapGapStint lapAt timeLaps
12Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’22.4701/14735
23Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’22.5090.0391/16027
31Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’22.8260.3561/34437
44Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’23.1880.7181/15432
55Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’23.5681.0981/46334
68Nico RosbergMercedes1’23.5861.1161/15235
77Michael SchumacherMercedes1’23.9811.5113/35330
86Felipe MassaFerrari1’24.2781.8081/26530
916Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’24.2901.8201/25433
109Nick HeidfeldRenault1’24.3661.8961/34431
1117Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’24.4832.0132/34838
1210Vitaly PetrovRenault1’24.7862.3161/33543
1318Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari1’25.2962.8261/16333
1411Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth1’25.3032.8331/35838
1519Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari1’25.4572.9871/24434
1612Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth1’25.6033.1333/32543
1715Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’26.0733.6031/26632
1820Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault1’26.4173.9471/35837
1914Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’27.1234.6533/58820
2021Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault1’27.1894.7193/88234
2125Jerome d’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth1’28.0365.5661/23736
2224Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth1’28.0625.5925/58928
2322Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth1’29.4696.9991/25728
2423Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth1’29.4767.0062/35831

Speed trap

  • As was often the case last year Red Bull seem content to sacrifice straight-line speed for lap time
#DriverCarEngineMax speedGap
116Kamui KobayashiSauberFerrari326.2
26Felipe MassaFerrariFerrari324.91.3
312Pastor MaldonadoWilliamsCosworth3224.2
411Rubens BarrichelloWilliamsCosworth321.94.3
55Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari321.15.1
67Michael SchumacherMercedesMercedes320.45.8
710Vitaly PetrovRenaultRenault3206.2
815Paul di RestaForce IndiaMercedes319.56.7
99Nick HeidfeldRenaultRenault319.36.9
1014Adrian SutilForce IndiaMercedes318.37.9
1117Sergio PerezSauberFerrari317.78.5
128Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes317.68.6
1318Sebastien BuemiToro RossoFerrari317.68.6
1419Jaime AlguersuariToro RossoFerrari316.69.6
153Lewis HamiltonMcLarenMercedes315.410.8
164Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes315.410.8
1725Jerome d’AmbrosioVirginCosworth31313.2
1820Heikki KovalainenLotusRenault312.813.4
1924Timo GlockVirginCosworth312.713.5
2021Jarno TrulliLotusRenault312.214
211Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault31214.2
222Mark WebberRed BullRenault311.614.6
2323Vitantonio LiuzziHRTCosworth30818.2
2422Narain KarthikeyanHRTCosworth30818.2

2011 Spanish Grand Prix

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    Image © Sauber F1 Team

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    68 comments on “Drivers unhappy with “slow” new hard tyre”

    1. I foresee two scenarios:

      1) Drivers make an extra stop because having less time on a slow tyre outweighs the time penalty. Though this is probably unlikely given the length of the pitlane (they missed a trick when they built that new chicane, the entrance could have gone straight past it).
      2) We see a lot more people start on the hard tyre to get it out of the way and take the fuel-induced higher degradation on the slowest tyre.

      1. either way, to my mind it won’t be solving the problem – that we need the drivers to have more than one viable strategy option. If everyone is doing the same thing then Pirelli have failed in one of their objectives – to bring back racing strategy.

        It concerns me that, thus far, the reason that the races have been great is because the teams are not yet on top of tyre strategy. Once they are, they will all swap at the optimum time etc and we’ll see a return to the more typical processional race. That’s why we need more than one realistic strategy.

        1. and, additionally, its going to emphasise saving soft tyres in qualifying – which, in my opinion, is a bad thing

          1. A 2.2 second gap in the compounds will mean that mid runners can challenge the top teams in Q1 – so i feel that top teams will be forced to use the soft…atleast some of the teams.

          2. and thus, it came to be that qualifying was dictated by tyres. Boring.

        2. We seem to have ended up with tyres that are slower and less durable. I think “disaster” is the exactly the right word to use.

          It may just be that these tyres are too hard for these conditions, which would explain it better than Pirelli being incompetent. I hope so.

        3. Completely agree. A gap of two seconds between the tyres for just an additional 6 or 7 laps is too much.

          There are still plenty of issues with these tyres that need to be worked.

      2. I checked my crystal ball and i saw the following…..

        With this extra hard tyre we will see 3 different strategies. Many will go for the classic 3 stopper (twice the soft and the hard at the end), Kamui-Perez and Buemi will go for a 2 stopper (twice the hard and a blistering last stint with the fresh soft) and Webber will go for the 4 stopper-Webber (three sets of soft and a hard).

        If there will be a safety car (I think that it is about time to see the SC this year!!!) the most exciting stategy will be a 2 stopper.

        Pirelli is doing whay they were asked. Sundays race will be a classic. Quali will be Webber-Vettel (not particulary in this order), McLarens, Alonso, Merc, Massa and Saubers. Lotus will for sure have a car in Q2 or maybe both cars. Let’s see…shall we?

        1. Ron in Michigan
          21st May 2011, 5:11

          Do you mean Lotus or Lotus Renault. I for won would be thrilled to Heiki make Q2.

          1. Ron in Michigan
            21st May 2011, 5:12

            one

    2. Surely the straight line speed deficit for Red Bull is going to be great for anyone who is able to follow them around the track… Even midfield people will be able to overtake! Paul di Resta is about 8 seconds faster down the straights + DRS advantage = quite a lot! Also, they will be less able to utilse the effect of DRS here.

      Looking forward to it…

      1. 8 seconds! Red Bull will be lapped at that pace…

    3. I wouldn’t be surprised if a driver makes it to Q3 on hard tires and then sticking to the hard tire to save the precious soft tires…

      1. Sound_Of_Madness
        20th May 2011, 17:05

        I would be surprised if a driver makes it to Q3 on hard tires.

      2. Hard to come by Marcus, as no driver ever made it to Q3 without using soft tyres. If any of the front runners do not use soft in Q1, then Lotus will surely be in Q2. That is my prediction 8)

        1. I don’t think anyone can risk not going soft tyre in every session. The new hards are just too slow.

    4. For me. The Pirelli tires sucks.. They caused all kind of setbacks to the cars. Hard tires really gonna make them struggle esp due tot he weather there.. Hope we see a great race and less Pit stops. Catch me on twitter for more F1 discussion @baffah_g

      1. Pirelli made what they were asked to make.

        They could have made a tyre that behaved the same as the Bridgestones but were asked not to do that but to do something else, which is what they’ve done.

        If these new hard tyres aren’t a success then I can see them dropping them after this race and going back to the previous compound while they try and come up with something in between the 2.

        1. It is disappointing this new tyre is a failure, but the soft compound has been exactly what everyone wanted, fast and degradable.

      2. I agree, the tyre(s) are too poor.
        Yes they needed to last less durable than the Bridgestones but this is taking the…….
        and now a hard tyre that is sooo slow and inconsistent, a recipe for F1 lottery, we could record the Saturday night draw instead and watch that.

      3. So… you want fewer pit stops but you don’t like tyres that last longer?

        1. ROFL

          1. All you have to do is drive on the scrubs and extend your laptimes by a minute! :D

    5. Maybe some of the slower teams will make pitstop on lap No 1.

    6. Several F1 drivers voiced complaints about Pirelli’s new hard tyre everything, because they’re drivers.

      1. Exactly. Drivers will always find something to moan about

        1. COTD right there

          1. If they were given unlimited allotment, any compound made to order, they would complain that the tires were unlimited for everyone else, too.

    7. If the hard tyres are really 1.5 – 2 seconds a lap slower it might mean everyone from the top teams will have to use softs in q1, not just ferrari. Theres no way anyone will be able to get through q2 on hards, not even vettel.

      There my also be a risk that whoever wins the race will simply be the driver from the top 4 teams that spends the least amount of laps on superhard (super slow) tyres in the race.

    8. Drivers are gonna care about their race…not about the show for the Fans…Lets just enjoy the complaints and the Pirelli Tyres on Sunday…

    9. Forget about the tyres. The history is that Ferrari rear wing is under FIA scrutiny.

      Hope they fix it because FIA was very keen to punish Sauber with what seems to be the same problem:

      “Slot-gap separators must be 200mm apart. Rule 3.10.3”

      1. Does it matter?, they will just revert to what they had in the first rounds, no drama.
        Now if it had been discovered after Qualifying that is a different matter.

        1. Fairly hard not to spot it.

      2. Non story – teams can run stuff that isn’t race legal in Practice just not in Qualifying or the race.

      3. Sauber were caught out on a a radius problem in their rear wing.

        3.10.1:

        “Furthermore, no part of this section in contact with the external air stream may have a local concave radius of curvature smaller than 100mm.

    10. PS I think Hamilton’s comment is to detract from his true pace.
      Those upgrades are looking good but I think RBR as sandbagging a bit

    11. How long can teams keep the soft tyres working? That’ll probably be the biggest factor on race day. If cars can’t go more than 75% of race distance on 3 sets of soft tyres it will be interesting to see when and how teams use the “superhard” tyres.

      1. I think teams will do 3 stints(or 4 if tyre degradation is as high as at Turkey) on the softs, then use the hards for the final stint.

        1. Can they do 4 stints on soft tyres? Each driver is allotted only 3 sets of softs and 3 sets of hard tyres.

    12. Weren´t the drivers asked in the last 2 races after some friday practice with this new hard tyre what their thinking was about his behavier??
      So why are they complaining now?? Isn´t the same for everybody??
      This tyre will mess the strategy not only in the race but also in qualifying which will be good.

      1. Why not just hold a raffle instead of qualifying then? That sure will “mess strategy”.

    13. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      20th May 2011, 19:02

      ISn’t it enough with the silly DRS to spoil true races? I mean, this kind of lucky raffle about tyre strategy is going nowhere. If it was making a point, not only RB but other teams would be winning races. It’s messing the middle-teams battle. I personally don’t like the way Piralli is doing its job (well, they ususally say they are just asked to do so). Tyre degradation is one of this day going to make a big-shame headline if there comes an accident for some tyres blowing unexpectedly, or for a pilot who tries to stay longer in soft tyres spinning on marbles and crashing. Just the same as worrying as Barrichello warning about DRS in Monaco. Scary. I hope to be wrong about this for the rest of the year. We really miss Senna, FIA shouldn’t risk pilots more than what they already do. F1 safety has improved a lot, I know, but don’t push the limits.

    14. Whinge, whinge, whinge. These are the rules and they’ve made the races very entertaining. A harder tyre should be slower than a softer one, that has almost always been the case. By using a hard tyre you are sacrificing some grip for more durability. If they were the same pace everybody would just use the hards and racing would be boring and processional again. You can’t have it all! Sacrifices have ot be made to get what you want!

      Without the tyre management required this year Red Bull would have easily won every race and then you’d all be whinging that F1 is boring. At least we get some action and strategy cock-ups now as we saw in china which allowed Lewis to win.

      Pirelli, in my merely humble opinion, are doing a fantastic job!

      1. You’re completely missing the point. The point of the new hard tyre was to improve durability, but it’s even slower than the older-spec version so you lose even more time anyway. The hard tyre is supposed to act as the prime, instead it’s more of a compromised option tyre than the option tyres themselves. That is not what Pirelli intended and the drivers are acknowledging that.

      2. P.S.

        The drivers love the softer (what is SUPPOSED to be the LEAST favoured comound) option tyre. I don’t understand how you can misinterpret the criticism of the new hard tyre as an attack on Pirelli.

      3. Without the tyre management required

        When will people wake up, there is NO tyre management. For each car they last X laps. It is nothing to do with driver skill or looking after them. Its luck and luck in the outcome of the design of the car. Tyre management mean the different between pitting one or two laps earlier which is totally discounted by ‘luck’ in what traffic you come out in or all sorts of other factors. Tyre management, piff!

        1. By the way,
          I’m not saying the tyre are totally rubbish. They just need to be consistent between sets and the softs need to be faster than the hards with the slower hards and lasting longer than they do. It’s no good if they last the same +/- 2 – 4 laps.

        2. That’s clearly not the case – some drivers are consistently able to do fewer stops than their team mates. such as Vettel, Button and Buemi.

          1. I’m not so sure, Vettel has clean air (the same as a car naturally better on its tyres) Button is better on his tyres if you look at the number of stops, but it doesn’t help him, he’s ran less stops but shouldn’t of, its been a mistake as he himself and Whitmarsh admitted, that’s why I say tyre management is a myth. Buemi same. No evidence that tyre management is helping any of those drivers.

            However after reading and looking at some data the new hard doesn’t look as bad as the drivers are saying and might be a step in the right direction from the previous hard tyre. We’ll see.

            1. Hard: It is slower but is now lasting much longer so I take back the 2 – 4 laps difference comment (that was the old hard tyre).

          2. Kobyashi is the only driver who seems to make tyre management work – He’s stopping less and placing better for it.

          3. Disagree with Button. Malaysia was more down to tyre strategy in qualifying, and Turkey Hamilton was able to do a three-stop, just that he might as well have pitted anyway as a precaution like Vettel did.

            1. Thinking about it more, I still stand by the managing tyre myth.
              The driver examples Keith gives provides more evidence, it does not disprove it.
              Both Button and Vettel have lost places due to less pit-stops, for Vettel it cost him a win. Doing less pit-stops was not tyre management but a strategic mistake

    15. Pirelli sucks. I miss the tyre war among Bridgestone and Goodyear.

      1. hear hear. At least then the tyres and pitstops actually had some meaning. Now they are just nursing the cars from stop to stop. Driving by cars that are on a another strategy with ridiculous ease.

        It’s depressing to see how even battle hardened F1 fanatics actually seem to like this nonsense.

        1. Agree, the overtaking means nothing when there is little or no skill.
          I’d much rather have last session.
          Its a bit like changing the rules in football so every game you get more goals i.e scores like 21 – 12, doesn’t make the game any better a 2 – 1 game (or even a 1 -0) would be just as good without the meaningless goals.
          For me overtaking was only a small part of the overall of the viewing enjoyment, throwing the cars into the cars and lock ups in the braking zones, the pure speed, the racing was just as exciting.

          1. whoops *season*

    16. Data suggest that only McLaren may be able to run with
      RBR for the distance. Mercedes don’t have the long run pace and look even set to fall behind Renault in the race. I don’t know what Ferrari was up to and they may be up to less if the stewards clip those funny rear wings. Hamilton could make Q3 interesting, but I suspect that after RBR puts their EBD on Qualifying Setting in Q2 with the softs, McLaren rest will do one run in Q3 and then sit in the garage, tail-between legs, saving their tires. Ferrari look to be way behind on one lap pace again, so they likely will just do a lap and maybe even have Massa take a pass on Q3 again.

    17. slightly off topic, but there apparently will be TWO DRS ZONES in Valencia and Canada, and it will be used in monaco on the pit straight

      1. 2 DRS Zones from Canada until the end of the season no less (where the layout allows)

    18. The drivers would probably like to go ten seconds per lap faster, because even they must get slightly bored of driving F1 cars that don’t try to spit them off the track at every corner.

      Pirelli have made tyres that have made the cars race again (forget DRS and KERS).

      This seasons Red Bull on last seasons Bridgestones would have made the championship practically a foregone conclusion by now.

      Red Bull/Bridgestone tyre strategy. *yawn*

      1. Soft tyre (although it would probably last for the entire race)until around lap 20. Pit for hard tyre. Wait for third place car to arrive about a minute after you’ve crossed the finishing line. Job done. Repeat at next race.

    19. Now we have a new tire which throws everybody off balance, creating even more exciting races. All hail Pirelli!

    20. Sorry off topic. When is the deadline for the predictions?

      1. It OK the post is up now
        until the start of qualifying on Saturday

        thought so… cheers.

    21. I wonder if anyone will struggle to meet the 107% rule if the Mclaren & Red Bull run softs in Q1? Any data Keith?

    22. Oh it wouldn’t be Formula 1 if drivers weren’t complaining about something new!

    Comments are closed.