Pirelli announce medium and soft tyres for Japanese and Korean Grands Prix – Formula 1 news
Pirelli, the official tyre suppliers of Formula 1, announced its decision for tyre compounds that are to be used at the upcoming Korean and Japanese Grands Prix on Friday, September 16, 2011.
The sole supplier of Formula 1 declared that this time around they will be using a different approach for the two Grands Prix. Depending on the layout of the circuit on which the races will be held, Pirelli has decided to provide all the participating teams
with the most suitable set of tyres. For instance, if a circuit consists of many fast and medium speed corners, medium and soft tyre combination will be used.
Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said, “After careful analysis of all the data we have available, we have come up with what we believe to be the nominations that are best suited to the characteristics of each circuit.”
For the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, which will be held at the Suzuka racetrack, the Italian tyre suppliers will be providing soft (yellow) and medium compounds (white). This pairing has been used four times this season at Valencia, Belgium, Germany and Italy.
At the 2011 Korean Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place a week after the Japanese GP at the Yeongam circuit, soft and supersoft tyres (red) will be supplied. The Yeongam racetrack is a narrow one with a low-grip surface and therefore, Pirelli has
come up with such a tyre pairing. It is a place Formula 1 is not very familiar with as only one race has taken place at this racetrack so far. Therefore, to predict the ideal tyre compound pairing is not an easy task.
Hembery is relying heavily on the simulations that his company conducted on the racetrack prior to coming up with the optimal tyre pairing that could be used at Yeongam.
He said, “While Suzuka is a track that we’ve competed on before, both in GT racing and on motorbikes, Korea is a circuit that most people are still learning about. Nonetheless, we benefit from advanced simulation technology that allows us to accurately predict
the likely behaviour of each tyre even on tracks that we have never seen before.”
Let’s see how Pirelli’s tyre pairing benefits the teams at the upcoming Japanese and Korean Grands Prix.
Tags: