The Art of Tyre Making
In a sport where cars are racing at high speeds of up to 360 km/h and pulling 5 Gs at turns and corners, the immense pressure on the tyres of the mechanical beasts is something that your normal road car tyre just cannot bear. So in order to bear the brunt
of such enormous forces the tyres need to be in more than just good shape, they need a little something more than that.
The formula used for these tyres in their making and the ingredients are a closely guarded secrets of the industry. The tyres are the vital part of the car that grip it to the road and make sure that the driver in the car does not slide off the track due
to less traction. The friction that these tyres undergo is such that it is almost impossible for an F1 car to finish a race with only a single set of tyres. The wear and tear is enough to make an ordinary road car tyre burst on the first lap.
The formula one tyre has undergone various changes throughout the history of the sport; from a change in the manufacturers, to the specifications, to the regulations imposed by the FIA. The tyres are designed not to last more than one race and thus during
2005 changing tyres during a race was disallowed and the compound of the rubber was made harder so that they could last the whole race. But this regulation was lifted in 2006 after the controversial 2005 United States Grand Prix.
During the years 1998-2008 tyres were restricted to have four grooves on them so as to increase safety and slow the cars down to reduce risk of high-speed collisions. Slick tyres (having no grooves at all) were introduced again in the 2009 season so as to
bring the thrill of overtaking back into the sport.
After the 2005 United States grand prix controversy, which resulted in a crash of Ralf Schumacher on the Indianapolis circuit due to a Michelin tyre failure along with other subsequent tyre failures lead to a race that had only six competitors left in it.
After this fiasco there were many discussions and meetings which took place between FIA and Michelin to solve the impending problem and even though Michelin sent another lot of tyres they too could not withstand the pressure at such turns. So in 2007 Bridgestone
was made the sole tyre manufacturer for the F1 cars.
The composition of the tyres is vaguely similar to that of road tyres. The road tyres are designed to run for up to 16,000 kilometres or more whereas a formula one tyre is made to run for 200 kilometres. The tyres are made to be as light as possible so that
they can withstand up to a tonne of down force and 4 to 5 Gs of lateral and longitudinal forces. The racing tyre is composed of a soft rubber compound, which makes it lighter and gives it that remarkable grip on the road but due to the soft compound, the tyres
wear out quickly.
These racing tyres work best when they are at high temperatures and this means that they have to be kept warm at all times. The tyre warmers that are placed on the tyres when the car is in the pits and after that during the parade lap the driver moves the
car left and right to warm up the tyres and keep the temperature high. The dry groove tyres that were used before were kept between 90 degrees to 110 degrees Celsius.
The extent of softness or hardness of the tyre’s compound is an option available to every driver before each race and the choice must be made keeping in mind the characteristics of the track. The three basic ingredients in the rubber of the tyre are sulphur,
carbon and oil. The composition of the tyre is altered by variations in these three components.
During rain the intermediate and wet tyres are used which has tread patterns on them that expels water to the sides so that the car maintains its grip on the road. One of the worst conditions that can be for a driver in rain is ‘aquaplaning’ where basically
the tyre is floating on a thin film of water between the tyre and the road. The tread patterns are designed in such a way to eliminate this factor and create the maximum contact of rubber against road to maintain grip.
Tyre making for formula 1 is an art, an art that combines precision, research and a tinge of genius needed to optimize the perfect car tyre balance. Tyre making is like creating the perfect paintbrush for Picasso, one that would involve mechanical and human
creativity to reach greater horizons.
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