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Pirelli defends expansion to seven tyre compounds

Published on 16 Jan 2018 09:16
10
By: Rob Veenstra

Pirelli has defended its decision to expand its range of tyre compounds for 2018. The number of compounds for the coming season has blown out to seven, with the introduction of the 'superhard' and the 'hypersoft' options.

One criticism is that fans struggling to understand F1 now have an even tougher task. "You cannot always please everyone," Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola told Auto Motor und Sport. "But it surprised me that it made such big waves. Our task now is to explain to people that it does not complicate things. There are still three compounds per weekend, and if you take the superhard out, you only have to remember six colours. That's not rocket science," he said.

However, Isola admitted that Pirelli had considered trying to simplify the colouring system amid the criticism. "We considered saying there is only a hard, medium and soft each weekend and then using the same three colours for all races," he revealed. "But in my opinion that is not the right message. In formula one there are always different aero packages, cooling systems, setups and so on, which is part of the sport." (GMM)

renaultFanF1

Posts: 80

There's plenty of other colors in the visible spectre... plenty of new compounds to make, perhaps to make one that lasts just half a lap, or put a timer in them which driver will see on the wheel (time to degrade -30sec)

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Jan 16 2018 - 09:52

F1 News Pirelli

Replies (10)

renaultFanF1

Posts: 80
There's plenty of other colors in the visible spectre... plenty of new compounds to make, perhaps to make one that lasts just half a lap, or put a timer in them which driver will see on the wheel (time to degrade -30sec)
- + 1
- Jan 16 2018 - 09:52
krommenaas

Posts: 155
I don't mind that there's seven, I just wish the colours were attributed more logically. Like blues should be for wet, orange should be between yellow and red, and pink between red and white. So:
* dark blue = wet
* light blue = intermediate
* green = ultra hard
* white = super hard
* pink = hard
* red = medium
* orange = soft
* yellow = super soft
* purple = ultra soft
- + 0
- Jan 16 2018 - 09:53
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I disagree with your order. I agree that blue should be wets (they already are), but two blues might get too confusing. And honestly, I find that to revamp the whole colour scheme so drastically, when the colours are already so well established, would be a legit bad idea, almost worse than adding additional compounds.
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  Jan 16 2018 - 12:56
reg

Posts: 162
Can we just have one dry tyre that will last a whole race that can be driven hard all race! No stupid pit-stops. They say they want to encourage technology that feeds into the real automotive world and is green (ecological), well used tyres are an ecological nightmare as is the energy used to make them (horrendous amounts actually) so perhaps like the engines they should go for only 3 sets of dry tyres per year!
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- Jan 16 2018 - 11:36
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  What I like with having more compounds than just one is that it introduces far more strategy into it compared to what it'd otherwise have. I dont think having multiple compounds is the problem, the problem is how confusing it gets for not as hardcore fans to memorize and get a sense of what all the different compounds will do. Seven dry compounds are far too many, and its not even economical for the sport to have that many compounds developed. Having just 4-5 compounds is more than enough.
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  Jan 16 2018 - 13:01
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
You can defend it all you want. You can put a wig and a wedding dress on a horse all you please, but both you and the horse know that you are banging a horse.
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- Jan 16 2018 - 12:09
- Major Tom
  
  Posts: 152
  Nice imagery!
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  Jan 16 2018 - 13:02
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Yes, I apparently have a knack for sharing horrible imagery. But I find it to be a very good likeness to what Pirelli is doing right now.
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  Jan 16 2018 - 15:03
Major Tom

Posts: 152
Whilst I don't really mind having seven different tyres I cannot see the need for a superhard tyre. I thought the organisers were anti one or no pitstop races.
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- Jan 16 2018 - 13:00
f1dave

Posts: 782
The teams should be free to chose what compounds they want to use for each race not the tire manufacturer, and how can Pirelli choose what tires to bring to an event months beforehand ? More stupid rules.
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- Jan 16 2018 - 17:22