From Pirelli
Pirelli’s latest specification of the P Zero Silver hard tyre was scheduled to make its debut in free practice at Silverstone – before the famous British weather decided otherwise.
Consequently, the new hard tire will now be brought to Germany for the drivers to try out in free practice on Friday.
They will have two sets of the new tire on top of their usual allocation of 11 sets, with the P Zero White medium compound and P Zero Yellow soft nominated for Germany.
Hockenheim – which alternates with the Nurburgring to host the German Grand Prix – is one of just three new circuits for Pirelli this year, together with Bahrain and the United States.
The Italian tire company does have some experience of racing there through the GP3 Series, which it has supplied since 2010, but no P Zero Formula One tire has ever yet turned a wheel at the track.
However, computer simulations of the circuit and mathematical modelling techniques mean that Pirelli’s engineers are well prepared for what they will face over the weekend.
Hockenheim – formerly one of the fastest circuits in the world – is now characterised by some long straights combined with a much slower and more technically complex stadium section.
This requires a very versatile set-up, and the tires too have to cope with an extremely wide range of speeds and conditions. Getting good traction out of all the slow to medium speed corners is key to a quick lap, and the tires play a vital role in this. There are also a number of heavy braking areas, with the tires having to absorb up to 5g of deceleration forces.
Pirelli’s latest specification of the P Zero Silver hard tyre was scheduled to make its debut in free practice at Silverstone – before the famous British weather decided otherwise.
Consequently, the new hard tire will now be brought to Germany for the drivers to try out in free practice on Friday.
They will have two sets of the new tire on top of their usual allocation of 11 sets, with the P Zero White medium compound and P Zero Yellow soft nominated for Germany.
Hockenheim – which alternates with the Nurburgring to host the German Grand Prix – is one of just three new circuits for Pirelli this year, together with Bahrain and the United States.
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| P Zero Silver hard tire. (Photo: Pirelli) |
The Italian tire company does have some experience of racing there through the GP3 Series, which it has supplied since 2010, but no P Zero Formula One tire has ever yet turned a wheel at the track.
However, computer simulations of the circuit and mathematical modelling techniques mean that Pirelli’s engineers are well prepared for what they will face over the weekend.
Hockenheim – formerly one of the fastest circuits in the world – is now characterised by some long straights combined with a much slower and more technically complex stadium section.
This requires a very versatile set-up, and the tires too have to cope with an extremely wide range of speeds and conditions. Getting good traction out of all the slow to medium speed corners is key to a quick lap, and the tires play a vital role in this. There are also a number of heavy braking areas, with the tires having to absorb up to 5g of deceleration forces.