Sauber's James Key expects Pirelli tyres to make Turkish GP more exciting: Formula One news
Sauber’s technical director, James Key, expects another exciting race weekend in the 2011 Formula One season, as the teams head to Turkey for the fourth race of the calendar. The previous race in China was thrilling for both the fans and drivers, as there
was a lot of overtaking in the race; something that was largely credited to the Pirelli tyres.
According to Key, the tyres will degrade a lot in the next race, which will allow for an exciting contest amongst the drivers. He said, “It will be another interesting event for the tyres, because the famous turn eight is one of the high speed corners of
the year with the highest loading of the tyres.”
Key further stated, “It will be interesting to see how well the tyres cope with that in terms of wear and degradation. This could result in some alternative strategies in the race, but we will not know until we get there.”
Sauber driver, Kamui Kobayashi, said that it was very hard for him to make a prediction about the tyres and the race strategy. He expected the front-tyres to wear out quickly though, as the Turkish circuit offers very little grip.
Pirelli have played a crucial role in enhancing overtaking opportunities this year. The Italian tyre manufacturers faced a lot of criticism before the start of the ongoing season, but continued their hard work.
This certainly paid off for Pirelli, as all teams praised the performance of the tyres. There were also some other regulations like Drag Reduction System (DRS) and Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which boosted the chances of overtaking for the drivers.
However, the power boost systems didn’t receive as much praise as Pirelli.
Mercedes’ driver Nico Rosberg was the only driver who came out with a lot of praise for DRS. According to the German, the innovation of the rear wing was one of the best-ever made by the sport’s governing body, the FIA.
Drivers are allowed to use the system freely during qualifiers and free practice, but there is a limitation during the race day. A driver can only activate the rear wing within a specified zone, which is indicated by the FIA before the start of the race.
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