Pirelli's Paul Hembery expects lesser tyre wear in the Chinese Grand Prix: Formula One news
Pirelli's Motorsport Director Paul Hembery has claimed that tyre degradation will not be a big factor during the Chinese Grand Prix, which takes place on Sunday, 17th April. Most Formula One teams had to stop four times during the second race
of the season in Malaysia. However, the situation will be different in China, as the track temperature will be a lot cooler.
Hembery stated, “From what we've seen here the wear rates are much lower compared to Sepang. Two stops is going to be the most likely strategy I've seen. The only question I have is that maybe the quicker teams can maybe afford to do a three-stop because
of the performance advantage.”
He further added, “The hard tyre is probably about 20 laps on Friday, and the soft is 13. That even would suggest in the race that if you are doing 20 laps on a Friday then some people might even be thinking of doing a one-stop here – an aggressive one-stop
strategy.”
Sauber’s Sergio Perez is the only driver to complete a race on a single stop strategy so far this season. However, he was able to achieve the feat in the season opening Australian Grand Prix. The track temperature was not hot at the venue, which allowed
the drivers to have a good race with a normal strategy.
However, things changed completely in Malaysia, as conditions were much hotter and humid compared to Melbourne. The Pirelli rubber had a higher wear rate, which made things uncertain for the drivers.
The drivers and teams have shown no concerns over their tyres during the Friday practice sessions in Shanghai today (15th April). Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel was out on a longer stint during P2 and didn’t have any issues, as he was the
quickest man overall in both the sessions.
This was an encouraging sign for Paul Hembery, who had to face a lot of criticism before the start of the 2011 season. Pirelli was advised by the sport’s governing body, the FIA, to develop tyres with a higher degradation rate, but the majority of the teams
were not in favour of this move. However, things have turned out to be much better compared to what the drivers witnessed during the pre-season tests.
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