Pirelli tyres where are they made

Amid struggles to get temperatures into Pirelli tyres that are new to the DTM for 2023, teams have come up with creative ways to circumvent the ban on using electric blankets. According to Autosport's sister website Motorsport-Total.com, several teams have been found leaving the garage doors wide open and placing tyres in a way to take advantage of direct sunlight. Teams also appear to have used tyre tents to heat up the Pirelli rubber. Some outfits use a black tarpaulin for this purpose, which can store more heat in direct sunlight than a white-coloured tent. Another clever trick involves teams placing tyres early on the grid trolley, which happens to be positioned in the sun outside the pit. These incidents were recorded most recently at the Lausitzring and the Sachsenring rounds and appear to be in contravention of the rules. Article 25.1 of the DTM regulations for the 2023 season states that "any device or measure to increase the tyre temperature above the ambient … [Read more...] about Abt calls for action against DTM teams using sunlight to heat tyres

The Mercedes driver said that the opening day of practice on Friday had been a puzzling one, as there was so little grip on offer. Speaking after ending second practice in fifth spot for Mercedes, 0.6 seconds adrift of pace-setter Max Verstappen , Russell said that it had not been a normal day of action. He suggested that the asphalt, which includes newly laid sections through Turns 3, 4 and 7, was not behaving as anticipated. "There seems to be a huge amount of tyre degradation," he said. "It's really weird in Suzuka. "It is one of the best tracks in the world to drive, but this year it feels like the tarmac has really broken up and the cars are sliding on top of the surface. "It's given a bit of a strange feeling to all the drivers out there, and that's what's contributing towards that tyre degradation." With Pirelli bringing the hardest of its compounds to Japan, low degradation could have moved it towards a one-stop. Russell thinks at the moment that, while he … [Read more...] about Russell says “strange” Suzuka surface causing massive F1 tyre degradation

The iconic figure-of-eight track has always been punishing on its rubber, but things could well be a bit more extreme this time around. Race day is expected to be another scorcher, and complaints that George Russell mentioned on Friday about a "strange" sliding have been caused by a track surface that has had a 15% drop in macro roughness (so effective grip) compared to 12 months ago. As Ferrari's Charles Leclerc said: "Especially with the very warm temperatures this year, the overheating is really, really bad. So, I expect that it [the race] will be all about the tyre management and the strategy." A two-stopper looks nailed on then, but it comes with not all teams having the luxury of what appears to be the ideal tyre allocation to get them through without much drama. F1 tyre supplier Pirelli thinks the best approach to the race is to start on the soft, run through until laps 12-18, and then split the rest of the grand prix up into two hard stints. But that is … [Read more...] about Are Red Bull and Ferrari on back foot for potential Japanese GP tyre wrecker?

In the round-up: Formula 1’s official tyre supplier Pirelli says its decision not to continue supplying rubber to the World Rally Championship is not linked to its future in grand prix racing. In brief Pirelli WRC exit not linked to F1 future The FIA is poised to decide which manufacturer has been selected as F1’s tyre supplier for the 2025 to 2027 seasons. Pirelli is understood to have submitted an application as well as former F1 tyre supplier Bridgestone. Earlier this month Pirelli confirmed it would not seek to extend its deal to supply tyres to the World Rally Championship. But its head of motor sport Mario Isola said this decision is not linked to it’s future participation in F1. “We have a team dedicated to WRC and we believe that in this period we got what we wanted in terms of being a part of the sport,” said Isola. “The team that is looking after WRC, or rallying in general, is not the same team that we have for Formula 1.” Pirelli is in its 13th consecutive year … [Read more...] about Pirelli deny WRC pull-out linked to F1 future as it awaits FIA’s decision

Red Bull's winning streak came to an end in Singapore last weekend, with Carlos Sainz scoring an emphatic victory for Ferrari from pole position. However, all signs point to the status quo returning at Suzuka, with the Honda-powered Red Bull squad favourite to take top honors in front of Japanese fans. Max Verstappen won last time out at Suzuka, leading a 1-2 for Red Bull ahead of Sergio Perez. The previous six races in Japan, dating back to the start of the V6 hybrid era in 2014, were all won by Mercedes. 2023 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix session timings in different timezones Session GMT BST CEST ET PT AEST JST IST FP1 02:30 03:30 04:30 22:30 19:30 12:30 11:30 08:00 FP2 06:00 07:00 08:00 02:00 23:00 16:00 15:00 11:30 FP3 02:30 03:30 04:30 22:30 19:30 12:30 11:30 08:00 Q 06:00 07:00 08:00 02:00 23:00 … [Read more...] about 2023 F1 Japanese Grand Prix session timings and preview

The Brazilian Grand Prix was the penultimate round of the 2010 World Championship and many teams have already stopped developing this year's car and are fully focussed on next year's. There are quite a few changes for next year, with the banning of the double diffuser, the introduction of the adjustable rear wing, the switch to Pirelli tyres and the return of KERS. In the paddock in Brazil there was quite a bit of dissatisfaction with KERS coming back. It was Ferrari who pushed it through, funnily enough around the time they were due to appear before the FIA World Council to face the team orders charges relating to the German Grand Prix. To make KERS more attractive next year the minimum weight limit has been increased and as a safety net the top teams also pushed through a FOTA edict on weight distribution with between 45.5% and 46.5% front weight distribution. This cuts down the risk of a team which decides not to use KERS being more competitive. The weight distribution has … [Read more...] about Who’s still updating cars as the season comes to an end?

As usual we have had many great comments and some interesting points of view put forward about the outcome of today's championship. I wanted to give the fans a voice tonight and so I've picked out this post from JM Randle, which expresses his view on this epic season and gives a good assessment of our new world champion. "With an hour or two having passed since the race finished, first and foremost we have to congratulate Sebastian Vettel – a combination of a truly awesome racer, able to extract the maximum from his car over both one lap and a race distance, and the magnificent Red Bull RB6, the class of the field for almost the entire season and suitably rewarded with the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championship titles. With that said, I don’t know if I was alone (probably was!) in feeling slightly deflated by the way the final race of this epic season panned out – the track and tyre degredation (or lack thereof!) played a huge role in the final result, … [Read more...] about Reflections on the championship – A Fan’s View

Australian Daniel Ricciardo dominated the second day of the Young Guns test at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi today, closing out with a time comparable with Sebastian Vettel's pole lap from last weekend, once track condition is taken into account. Ricciardo set a time of 1m 38.102s, which was 1.292 seconds faster than the pole lap last weekend. Engineers I've spoken to at the track say that the track improvement was around 1.2 seconds yesterday, compared to qualifying day, and it was even faster this morning. There was more grip and there was also a favourable tailwind. Also cones which had been on the apex of some corners were not there today, so there was some fractional gain from cutting the apex. So you'd have to work on the basis of taking 1.4s -1.5s off the headline lap times to get a comparable read to times set during Grand Prix weekend. Nevertheless it's a formidable effort by Ricciardo. Jerome d'Ambrosio's best time of 1m 38.802s, is 2.099s faster than Vitaly … [Read more...] about Rookie test ends with Ricciardo on top

This week 40 years ago, an Italian fashion label signed a deal which began one of the most successful, influential and colourful sponsorship programmes in Formula 1 history. Benetton’s entry into F1 with Tyrrell was successful from the outset, but the brand aspired to do more than just put its stickers on an F1 car. Within three years it had a team of its own and was winning races as a constructor, and in time it enjoyed championship-winning success with one of F1’s all-time great drivers. The idea a brand that was ‘just a T-shirt manufacturer’ could succeed in F1 was greeted with scepticism with some on their arrival. But Benetton soon disproved the doubters and inspired other brands to do the same – notably the soft drink producer which goes into the 2023 season as defending champions. 1983: Tyrrell Plucky underdogs Tyrrell had Denim logos on their cars when Michele Alboreto won the 1982 season finale at Las Vegas. But Luciano Benetton refused to share space on their car with … [Read more...] about Benetton, 40 years on: How a fashion label conquered Formula 1