Pirelli said the high track temperatures seen during the second practice session demonstrate why it was a difficult decision to bring the soft tyre for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
F1’s official tyre supplier originally nominated by hard and medium tyre compounds for this weekend’s race. But following complaints from some drivers that it would be unsuitable, Pirelli revised the allocation and has brought the soft and medium.
However the soft tyre began to blister during the hot track conditions on Friday. Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said the combination of unpredictable weather conditions and the resurfacing of the track presented problems when it came to choosing the correct tyre.
“The track is very different from last year,” he said. “We’ve lost all of the macro roughness, 50% less than last year, so it’s a very smooth track.”
“In the first session we saw lots of oils coming out from the new Tarmac which we’ve got out there, which you get in new surfaces. So a lot of graining going on in the first run on the tyres in [first practice]. Improved a little bit through the day.
“Having said that it’s a strong call for something like the soft compound here when we’re getting up to nearly 60C track [temperature]. So a little bit of blistering we started to see on the front tyres.”
It may prove not to be a problem in the race, however, as the weather is expected to change. Cooler temperatures, increased cloud cover and a high chance of rain are forecast for the next two days.
“Who knows what the rest of the weekend’s going to hold,” Hembery added. “Nobody foresaw having this high temperature today so there’s still a few question marks I guess for the rest of the weekend.”
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Image © Pirelli/Hone
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
7th November 2014, 18:54
That’s why you don’t listen to what Massa is saying.
Breno (@austus)
7th November 2014, 19:46
Indeed. Interlagos at this time of year is very unpredictable (although the last two years havent given us too much rain), it can be a complete downpour, or it can be infernal sunny; convservative should be the way to go.
Ilham Shaq (@hahailham1)
7th November 2014, 21:56
so you think a 1 stop like Sochi is better?
Alexandre (@alexandre)
7th November 2014, 22:21
Well, at least he has one thing less to blame for his poor performance…
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
7th November 2014, 18:56
I very much like this unpredictability factor, let’s hope a good race!
Patrick (@paeschli)
7th November 2014, 19:57
Everybody will ditch the soft as fast as possible, don’t expect a lot of split strategies. All we can do is pray for some rain!
@HoHum (@hohum)
7th November 2014, 19:59
The potential alternative is the ” Pit-stop World Championship”.
And since when is 30 C. HOT at this time of the year in Brazil?
anon
8th November 2014, 13:00
Actually, temperatures in excess of 30 degrees are abnormally hot for November in São Paulo (the average peak temperature in Nov is 26 degrees), which is why São Paulo has been experiencing one of its most protracted droughts for years and reservoirs are almost completely depleted. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-29947965
RogerA
7th November 2014, 19:56
So if its a dry race we get another race dominated by tyres :(
Will we ever get back to proper racing tyres & more open tyre regulations so that teams are not shacked by having to run on a compound thats not really suited to car or track conditions?
And where there all forced onto a 2-3 stop strategy purely because the tyres, Or usually 1 compound struggles to do more than 10 laps?
Lets just give the teams more freedom to run what compounds they want, When they want & for as long as they want. Lets give teams real strategy options again where there not forced to make at least 1 stop & wheer there not pushed down a specific strategy route just because its what Pirelli or whoever want that weekend.
Its artificial nonsense like that & DRS, Double points, standing restarts etc.. which has turned a lot of fans off F1 the past few years. Certainly why I don’t watch every race now & why I turn some races off after seeing tyres play a big role & some absurdly easy DRS-ing.
Bring back the real racing please, That will bring the racing fans back!
HK (@me4me)
7th November 2014, 20:54
Well… rather 3 pitstops than 1. I quite like the challenge it presents to teams and drivers.
hzh (@hzh00)
7th November 2014, 21:13
Yeah me too.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
7th November 2014, 21:37
Yeah me too.
I instantly like a race less if it’s a one stop. One stopping should be a thing you can do if you can nurse the tyres, not just a standard strategy.
Davey
8th November 2014, 11:32
Races should be determined on the racetrack & not in the pits.
F1 was a No-Stop series for many years & thats how it should be again, Every bit of racing should be done on the track rather than relying on ‘undercuts’ in the pits where no overtaking even needs to be tried on the track.
The Multi-stop races tend to be quite dull, Watching cars stationary in the pits is boring & watching cars trundling down the pit lane at 60kph is equally boring.
Lets put back every second of the racing purely on the racetrack & abolish pit stops altogether!
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
8th November 2014, 18:54
I totally disagree. The racing should be done on track AND in the pits. There are some racetracks, where it is nearly impossible to overtake (e.g. Monaco, Hungaroring). Therfore you need a good strategy to be able to pass somebody. Let’s say you are following a high-topspeed-car for more than 30 laps and there is no way you can get passed it on the racetrack. Why not use a clever strategy to get ahead of it in the pits?
Most of the multi-stop races in the past were very exciting and eventful (this year’s Canadian, German and Hungarian Grand Prix.
Whilst most of the 1-stop races were pretty boring (e.g. Russian Grand Prix).
Guilherme
7th November 2014, 22:56
“Nobody foresaw having this high temperature today so there’s still a few question marks I guess for the rest of the weekend.”
I’m sorry, but this is stupid. Six of the ten highest temperatures ever recorded in Sao Paulo happened this year, three of them in October.
http://www.jornalrondoniavip.com.br/noticia/levantamento-aponta-2014-como-o-ano-mais-quente-da-historia,geral,7832.html
Tristan (@skipgamer)
7th November 2014, 23:29
What’s with teams/drivers lobbying Pirelli for tyre choice changes all of a sudden? Seems like the sort of thing a team could attempt to do to gain a performance advantage on their preferred tyre. It worked in USA so why not try it every race now?
MagillaGorilla (@magillagorilla)
8th November 2014, 1:11
@skipgamer this lobby was done back before the Russian GP and quite prior to the U.S. one. The Lobbying for tire change based on some sort of danger reasoning as Massa claimed was the first of its kind this season I know if with Pirelli.