Debate: Should Pirelli Remain in Formula One?

[John-Eric Saxén]

As Mr. Sterr pointed out, it matters not who is to blame. Vettel is right (this article is much more focused on the real issue...so thanks). Full stop. The issue is "why does this keep happening?" when the FIA, Pirelli, and whoever else makes a decision that is too liberal for "the sake of" racing excitement. Great races are produced when i) competition (Bram's point); meets ii) innovation and; ii) regulation is kept out of it as much as possible. Drivers accept and deal with danger all the time. I think they know when their lives are being risked by an unnecessary and artificial event simply to make money. That's the real gut kicker. And that's the essence of why people are abandoning F1, as others have noted. Curbing, heat, wrong pressures, etc. All of it is offensive to me. They traded the fear of fire (something that IndyCar deals with, but is very rare and explainable) for the real threat of human fallacy and greed.

Actually what Pirelli did was act on critics of boring 1-stop races and complaints that their tire choices were too conservative. Lots of drivers after Barcelona race moaned that the hardets compound is too hard and that it makes laptimes slow. So they went one step softer at Spa and this happened. If I'd be Pirelli I'd get out of the sport as quick as possible. Not to defend the tire blows, but drivers/fans always find something to complain.

 

[Thomas Alderton]

Tyre Manufacturer Battle FTW!

 

[Dave R]

There's no justification for a tire manufacturer to be forced to design a tire that destroys itself for the sake of adding more pit stops and endangering drivers lives.

Spot on honestly.

 

[Esox71]

Actually what Pirelli did was act on critics of boring 1-stop races and complaints that their tire choices were too conservative. Lots of drivers after Barcelona race moaned that the hardets compound is too hard and that it makes laptimes slow. So they went one step softer at Spa and this happened. If I'd be Pirelli I'd get out of the sport as quick as possible. Not to defend the tire blows, but drivers/fans always find something to complain.

That's just silly, do you not think it would be better if the tyre just lost grip(forcing pit stop) but not losing it's integrity?
Pirelli do what Bernie says.

 

[Milos]

Actually what Pirelli did was act on critics of boring 1-stop races and complaints that their tire choices were too conservative. Lots of drivers after Barcelona race moaned that the hardets compound is too hard and that it makes laptimes slow. So they went one step softer at Spa and this happened. If I'd be Pirelli I'd get out of the sport as quick as possible. Not to defend the tire blows, but drivers/fans always find something to complain.

but if they went 1 step harder in Spa they'd be using the Medium and Hard tyres, you can't go harder than that, and the mediums are still being used (which is the tyre Vettel exploded)

 

[Robert Woodward]

I seriously don't see how people can be defending these tire failures... you can defend the fact that the tires wear out fast all you like but they shouldn't blow up!!!!!!! at worst it should be a rare occurance but having it happen to more than one driver in one race weekend just sounds like flawed design to me. The FIA's decision to tell them to make tires that run out of grip quicker should not come into it.

 

[Chris]

but having it happen to more than one driver in one race weekend just sounds like flawed design to me.

+1
Not just one driver, but more than 1 category!

 

[Milos]

I'm curious to see how Codemasters will implement the tyre explosions into F1 2015

 

[Philip Heck]

That's just silly, do you not think it would be better if the tyre just lost grip(forcing pit stop) but not losing it's integrity?
Pirelli do what Bernie says.

This is exactly what the FIA wants Pirelli to do but they are just nor able to. For some bogus reason...

 

[Rob]

This is exactly what the FIA wants Pirelli to do but they are just nor able to. For some bogus reason...

Well, in fairness to Perelli, it may be a fool's errand. They may be just fools or money whores instead of knowingly making weak tires. The former based on ignorance and the latter based on deceit. But who knows? Unless a court gets involved we may never know. We do know that the current "system" is dangerous, artificial, and monopolistic.

 

[Ho3n3r]

People seem to confuse tire structure with loss of grip. The inner part of the tire shouldn't come under strain if the surface is worn more and more. They are essentially 2 different parts of the same object.

EDIT: To be clear on what I mean, look at this picture:

Obviously it's a pre-2009 tire, but the basics are the same.

On the left, you see the carcass and the belt. These 2 parts should not come undone under enough stress to explode, ever. Once the tread is worn, it goes onto the under-tread. Now the onboard footage of Vettel going through Eau Rouge and Radillon showed clearly that his tire wasn't nearly worn to the carcass or even the belt, and rightly it shouldn't. But these parts failed spectacularly, and also in the case of Rosberg, after a lot less laps. This shouldn't happen.

 

[Qazdar Karim]

Some people can't make a difference between the tyre carcass and rubber softness ... this has nothing to do with the fact that they have chosen softs!

 

[Ho3n3r]

Some people can't make a difference between the tyre carcass and rubber softness ... this has nothing to do with the fact that they have chosen softs!

Heh. What are you referring to?

Anyway, the tire structure shouldn't have failed. Full stop.

 

[thewarmer]

Simple to solve ,but the question should be , should Bernie Eccelstone & Co stay in F1 & not Pirelli .
Thus solving the biggest problem for me with F1.

 

[Qazdar Karim]

Heh. What are you referring to?

Anyway, the tire structure shouldn't have failed. Full stop.

Calm down! i was just validating your point and answering some post i've seen above

And yes! a tyre shouldn't explode no matter how long is the stint, only grip should be affected ...

 

[Nick Milton]

Absolutely stay in F 1, but also open up Michelin, and anyone else, open the competition up, let teams choose.

 

[Edward Mowinckel]

Wow, I am no stranger to internet, so a civilized conversation with lots of well spoken viewpoints about race car tyres is to me, great! I am glad to have found a community where we can discuss dissenting opinions and not have it devolve into an argument. So, thank you to everyone for discussing this in an intelligent and civilized manner! There are a lot of well informed opinions in this thread, and it has been a treat to read them!

Now, it's time for my opinion! I do think Pirelli are doing as best they can, I really do. They're working with the FIA, 10 teams on an individual basis, and millions of fans, they have to satisfy all of them, so uh, good luck! They have a very difficult job. In the interest of actually taking a side, I will go ahead and place the larger chunk of the blame on the teams, and say I'm with Pirelli on this one. As has been said before, Vettel was on an awful long stint, but I'd have liked to see his tyres go off the cliff, rather than see one go pop. Could it have been averted with a different setup, without cutting into the kerb so much on the track, or with a shorter stint, maybe with a different tyre pressure? I'm going to bet you that, yes, Ferrari could have averted this, simply by better working within the confines of the tyre.

Now, while I have put myself on Pirelli's side, bloody hell mates if you say your tyre is rated for 40 laps it ought to last 40 laps! That is a kerfuffle, however Ferrari knew it was a long stint, and every driver likes to eat kerb to save lap times. Every team has to push the limits to compete. For me, Pirelli provides the product, and it's up to the teams to work within that. I'll never know what was said between Pirelli and Ferrari regarding their setup and how it will affect the tyres, or if anything was exchanged at all! However, from my big comfy blue chair and my perspective as a big-comfy-blue-chair commentator (which is to say, an ill-informed commentator), I still stand by my opinion that it's up to the teams to work with what they're given. If I knew what Pirelli had communicated to Ferrari, and vice versa, my opinion might change. However, the tyres are a static factor, and you have to work with that. From my perspective, the outside looking in, 9 other teams didn't have a problem during the race. Was anything different for Ferrari? I will likely never know! All I have is conjecture, which is hardly anything to go on!

I do feel that no matter what Pirelli do, they'll take some flak. In this instance, I think their entitled to some (if not a lot) of the flak, but not the majority.

I don't think booting Pirelli from F1 will solve anything, it would change things, however all I think that would do is give us another scapegoat, but for different reasons!

 

[Dux]

My opinion is that Pirelli have no problems creating high quality tyres. But that the problem is in the requirements of those who run F1. Therefore i don't think Pirelli should leave. They can leave if they acknowledge that F1 is not the place they hoped for it would be or not good for their brand and the image they create, but thats whole other subject.

Apart that by no means in F1 should be introduced two brands of tyres. That will only create even further split up among the teams and performances and the drivers skills will fall even more on the tyres.

So, 1 tyre supplier, whoever that is.
Current situation, Pirelli is least at fault.

 

[Diogo Goetz Brand]

Can't we have a tyre failure just like engine, gearbox, brakes, suspension etc. Failures?

No.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

No.

Then we will forever have problems, and no supplier will ever be good enough.