Are Pirelli stopping racing?

[FrankAlfa]

Very obsurd Comment! I have Pirelli tires on all of my cars! The Pirelli P-4 Four Season is the best tire I have ever owned & has 85,000 Mile Warranty! Look at the reviews! We are not even talking about their High Performance Tires. They Invented the +1 Concept in the 70's with their P-7 Tire!!!! It was the Standard for 20 years!

Ciao.

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[Dino]

Very obsurd Comment! I have Pirelli tires on all of my cars! The Pirelli P-4 Four Season is the best tire I have ever owned & has 85,000 Mile Warranty! Look at the reviews! We are not even talking about their High Performance Tires. They Invented the +1 Concept in the 70's with their P-7 Tire!!!! It was the Standard for 20 years!

Ciao.



Forza Ferrari!!!!

+1................But Schumi don't like them so.............!!

[sav_pap]

It's not only the Pirelli tyres. We don't have anymore pure racing. Testing ban, no refueling, obligatory tyre wear, teams not to run on FP's for spare tyres, cost limits, no engine development and all these crap drove to lack of racing. It's all politics in my opinion. They plan the sport as they want. That's why we have changed regulations every year. Did this happen before. No.
That's what happens now with Pirelli. They follow orders and manufacture tyres on request. Last order says "make tyres not to last, so we have a spectacular show.

[zorro666]

Firsty, I have to agree with Schumi on so many levels.
The situation with the tyres is just mad and ultimately fake.
Only KERS has validity and nothing else.

DRS and Pirelli are simply trying to "correct" the wrong doings of the extreme aero dependence.
Yes we see more overtaking and yes F1 is fun again after a long time but at what cost?

Secondly, Blood is Freedom's Stain but according to a 120 year old fool " there is no such think as bad publicity".
Well Bernie you are a disgrace and I don't think you would allow Tamara to Bahrain for holidays!
Afterall she works so hard she deserves it... Boo hoo!

Less Aero, less tyre degregation and definitely a lot less Bernie.
That's what the sport clearly needs.
Oh! And Ross back to Ferrari... Almost forgot that!

Forza Ferrari!

[Greig]

Brundle-

In eight days we have had two great races largely driven by the degradation and resultant strategy dilemmas around the Pirelli tyres. In our show I expressed an opinion that whilst I'm really enjoying the races I wouldn't want F1 to become only about the tyres. I hadn't realised that Michael Schumacher was about to launch a broadside at the difficulty of managing the narrow window of performance and the high drop off of the tyre grip.

On the journey home I was talking with two F1 drivers, a world champion and a multiple race winner, and they had very similar concerns to Michael in that they can't push the cars anywhere near their limits. 'Physically my granny could drive the race' quipped one to underline how far away from the limits they are.

Pirelli have done a great job for F1 and judging by audience figures and comments the fans love this style of unpredictable racing. But it does become confusing when we have drivers popping up out of the blue with a fast but unrepeatable lap time in a session, and fancied runners simply disappearing backwards in the race. We need to see pure skill, speed and pace win through too, and not simply just applaud those who could tip toe the best or find the right set-up sweetspot on the day. There is room for both.

[racingbradley]

I totally agree with Michael
Why do they have to insert so many "artificial" variables just to make F1 interesting?
Let's have a tyre war and let the individual teams decide which compounds they bring to the race.
I reckon you would see some blunders there!!!!!!
OK limit the number they can have for a weekend

[RedRebel40]

In the past the fastest drivers won the race, these days the driver who presume their tyres the best win the race. The F1 championships should be all about the man and his car and not about the guy who preserves his tyres the best. Offcourse also in the past they tried some form of try preserving but no where like these days. In the last race Kimi couldn't attack more then once because he would suffer heavilly from tyres who were destroyed. it's very sad to see someone following another guy just because he can't attack even if he is faster.

[Greig]

Not sure about that with Kimi, seems to me that Vettel was just managing his pace and when it came to the crunch he pulled away from Kimi. Kimi went from 11th to 2nd pushing pretty hard without destroying tyres.

[Nova]

Thats what I asked in another thread..where n the heck did RenoLotus or whatever theyre called, come from?
They looked very fast and managed their tires.

Theyre Reno to me, why do they have to change their came? It just makes
me all the more confused

[Hornet]

Thats what I asked in another thread..where n the heck did RenoLotus or whatever theyre called, come from?
They looked very fast and managed their tires.

Theyre Reno to me, why do they have to change their came? It just makes
me all the more confused

I still accidentally refer to them as Renault all the time.

Its weird saying Lotus is ahead of us, or Lotus finished on the podium

[Red passion]

+1................But Schumi don't like them so.............!!

Oh ya Play the Schumi card against me

[coolrunnings_99]

I ve remembered them as the most ingenious racing team ever.
Its them guys who in order to win a GP, ran a perfectly good car into trackside walls

[Dino]

+1................But Schumi don't like them so.............!!

Oh ya Play the Schumi card against me
Just joking my friend,in fact I agree that Pirelli have gone a bit too far with their latest tyres.
If only they could make them last for at least 12 fast laps and then start degrading at a slower rate will be more ideal.

[Red passion]

It was taken as a joke too, buddy. Good one. Made me laugh


btw
I am a massive Ferrari fan too


Honest

[brembo man]

I wonder if the chin still has stashed away that illegal traction control he used against Senna in the day? I'm sure the chin and Ross could slip that in his car if that would help save those Perrelli skins he's complaining about. Or just park on the track and cool his tyres off. Or.... last but not least, ask Nico how he's managing so well. He managed to score a big point last race, what's his problem?

[RedRebel40]

I wonder if the chin still has stashed away that illegal traction control he used against Senna in the day?

yes he had lots of wheel spin and bad starts that year, whats exactly the function of a traction control?

some haters where also saying that Schumacher had traction control at imola 1998 which was not true ;)

[khizerk]

I wonder if the chin still has stashed away that illegal traction control he used against Senna in the day? I'm sure the chin and Ross could slip that in his car if that would help save those Perrelli skins he's complaining about. Or just park on the track and cool his tyres off. Or.... last but not least, ask Nico how he's managing so well. He managed to score a big point last race, what's his problem?

Nico was in clean air. Its much worse when you are in traffic. Currently, there are allegations against renault engines that they have a kind of traction control built into them. Whatever it is if it is indeed any thing, if its not being caught by FIA, its your technical achievement. So I'd rather not blame the driver.

I do think the tyres need to be some way in the middle of where the bridgestones were and the pirelli are now. There are too many variables when a car come behinds the other: DRS, KERS differential and now a huge tyre differential as opposed to just the driver skill and pure speed of the car previously. You can't use strategy any more to perhaps try to turn the race in your favour by holding up the guy behind you who is on fresher tyres by driving your wheels off.

[brembo man]

Very true. But I do believe pure speed of the care rather than driver skill is what Vettel had and will have going for him if he steps up again. In Alonso's case it's 100% give him a fast car and we win every time. I thought the same of Lewis, but not anymore. I agree with you for sure" if it's not being caught by FIA, it's your tec. achievement!"

[Greig]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99281

Pirelli boss Paul Hembery says the manufacturer is open to changing its tyre philosophy if Formula 1 teams want it - but insists it has had no indication that there is any unhappiness about its rubber.

Speaking at Mugello, Hembery reiterated his belief that the current generation of tyres had helped produce more exciting racing, but said Pirelli was always open to discussion about it's strategy and approach.

"We were asked to come up with a certain approach, and that was agreed with teams," Hembery said. "The leader for the teams' views was actually Ross [Brawn], and he told us that Canada 2010 was the model they wanted and that is what we worked on.

"What do we want? One car to disappear into the distance? The public turned away from the sport when that happened, so there was a very clear decision made by the sport to address the racing.

"If the sport decides we are too aggressive we can change though; we can supply tyres that don't degrade and allow you to push, as we did last year when the hard and medium tyres had negative degradation - the loss of performance from the tyre was less than the loss of fuel.

"We would [be open to change] for the sport, but its not just the drivers – it's the teams, the promoter. The team principals tend to be quite pragmatic and look at the bigger picture, and I would be very surprised if they asked us to do anything different.

"At the end of the day we do what they want and also the right thing for the sport: it is not us on our own deciding a direction, you have to work together as a partnership."

Asked specifically about Michael Schumacher's criticism of the Pirelli compounds, Hembery said he was sympathetic to the seven-time champion's views.

"I can see Michael's frustrations, but it is the sport that asks us," he said. "There is a strange misconception in that drivers don't push. All four winners were pushing and they were also quicker than their team-mates, so it's hard for me to understand that concept.

"We have limited to some extent what they can push but that doesn't mean they don't have an influence: there is no doubt [they count] and that's very important in a sport that should be about the drivers.

"It's hard to please everybody, we accept that. Tomorrow morning we could do something different, but right now that's not really what the majority is asking."

[Hornet]

Personally, I feel that if the car is superior, and the driver is great, then if they disappear into the distance fair and square, so be it. These people worked hard to build great cars, drivers are supposed to be some of the best around, its unfair to have artificial handicapping just to increase a race's entertainment value.

[brembo man]

I do. Do you consider team orders artificial handicapping?

[Naeem]

I do. Do you consider team orders artificial handicapping?

The problem is not of pirelli's making. whoever chose to take the soft tyres to bahrain is the fool, they could have taken the hard tyres which presumably would have lasted at least 25 laps if the mediums lasted 20.

[Poltergeistes]

I think people are just sayin, maybe have a little more balance between the compounds, i think the notion that you have to use BOTH compounds every race (except with rain) each kind so far apart from one another and you have only a limited number of sets is simply retarded, that to me is the biggest artificial situation we have going on right now.

To me the only thing that could be more laughable than this is that idea of bernie, of having artificial thus predicted rain, in order to make the races unpredictable. Was spa and interlagos 08 good? no doubt, 2 races to go down to history, but would we want every single race done that way, because we will make it rain during the last few laps always?

This is basically what we have right now with the tyres.

Spa and interlagos that season, like gilles and arnoux in france, they didn't need artificial pre arranged factors in order to be unforgetable.

[sagi58]

The problem is not of pirelli's making. whoever chose to take the soft tyres to bahrain is the fool, they could have taken the hard tyres which presumably would have lasted at least 25 laps if the mediums lasted 20.

But... isn't Pirelli the "fool" making the decision as to what tires go to what race??

[sagi58]

... you have only a limited number of sets is simply ridiculous ...

Thought I'd fix that for you! That other word is UN-acceptable anymore, in fact, it's offensive!

[Omegablue]

These tyres, DRS, testing ban, must all go.

[Alessandra]

DRS, KERS, Pirelli tyres, re-fueling, not re-fueling etc etc . It’s all about spectacle and especially the TV experience. And, since most of us watch F1 on TV, what’s wrong with that?
Well, only that F1 becomes entirely about having the ‘best’ car. Probably none of us would argue that the ‘best’ car has certainly won the Constructors’ title in the past 4 – 5 years, but has the best driver won the WDC? Well, this is what I think MSC may be referring to.

Then there’s the familiar ‘boring’ track issue. How many tracks actually enable drivers - especially those not in the ‘best’ car – to display their real driving skills? Whose fault is that? So, teams have to concern themselves with giving their drivers additional bits and pieces that allow them to reduce drag, over-take, last the course, stick to the track and so on and we arrive back where we started and have to make deliberately temperamental tyres to give a bit of excitement - if that's the word – but also provide areas in which drivers can display some sort of individual driving ability.
I don’t really mind. The past few races have been interesting and even exciting. But in terms of drivers’ skills maybe we should just forget the WDC and have some kind of informed voting system that awards an annual “best driver in a reasonable car” award!

[sagi58]

Who else would take the bull by the horns, like Schumi?? :

Schumacher visits Pirelli at Mugello

Thursday 3 May at 16:35 : May 3 (GMM) Michael Schumacher paid a visit to the Pirelli motorhome at Mugello.
The seven time world champion was heavily critical of the Italian supplier's 2012 tyres recently in Bahrain, but boss Paul Hembery had revealed that he had yet to get together to hear first-hand about Schumacher's gripe.
Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said the Mercedes driver's meeting with Pirelli lasted half an hour.
"I can imagine what was talked about," Timo Glock grinned.
Hembery said: "Michael was with our technicians and Mercedes engineers, I do not know what was said."
Another Pirelli employee insisted: "Nothing special to report."
Hembery does, however, have some good news to break to Schumacher: "In 2013 our tyres will be even softer."
As for the extreme degradation, "We are sticking with our philosophy of exciting races, until something else is asked of us", Hembery insisted.
Mark Webber admitted there is a fine line to walk between the wishes of the teams and drivers, and the interests of the spectators.
"We would all love to have quicker lap times and extremely consistent tyres like we did in the old days," he is quoted by AAP news agency, "but that wasn't the most exciting thing for the racing.
"Trying to find somewhere in the middle is always tricky but, at the moment, we have a pretty good show for the crowd.
"Whether it's by design or not, it's turned out like that."

[Poltergeistes]

Thought I'd fix that for you! That other word is UN-acceptable anymore, in fact, it's offensive!

Thought I'd thank you here also for fixing my spelling, Tifoso always helps me with my italian, so it's nice to have people like you here that takes the time to help my english too. (god knows even my primary lang portuguese isn't perfect ! )

I would also like to apologize to anyone who felt offended by me using the word retard. it's just that i only ever used this word to describe stupid, and not a exceptional (disable) person. I will try and watch myself and not use that word anymore. so again i'm sorry to everyone who perceived it as an offense.

[Poltergeistes]

DRS, KERS, Pirelli tyres, re-fueling, not re-fueling etc etc . It’s all about spectacle and especially the TV experience. And, since most of us watch F1 on TV, what’s wrong with that?
Well, only that F1 becomes entirely about having the ‘best’ car. Probably none of us would argue that the ‘best’ car has certainly won the Constructors’ title in the past 4 – 5 years, but has the best driver won the WDC? Well, this is what I think MSC may be referring to.

Then there’s the familiar ‘boring’ track issue. How many tracks actually enable drivers - especially those not in the ‘best’ car – to display their real driving skills? Whose fault is that? So, teams have to concern themselves with giving their drivers additional bits and pieces that allow them to reduce drag, over-take, last the course, stick to the track and so on and we arrive back where we started and have to make deliberately temperamental tyres to give a bit of excitement - if that's the word – but also provide areas in which drivers can display some sort of individual driving ability.
I don’t really mind. The past few races have been interesting and even exciting. But in terms of drivers’ skills maybe we should just forget the WDC and have some kind of informed voting system that awards an annual “best driver in a reasonable car” award!

I think you nailed it when you mentioned boring tracks, F1 has been plagued by them. in an attempt to built luxurious venues, to be fair they have been good in terms of safety but forgot to pay attention to the layout itself, to me it would be nicer to have tracks that are more natural, that incorporates the environment/land in which it sits, look at spa, look at interlagos, clearly not layouts that were designed simply in a computer, they followed the landscape, and to me it's not just that they have elevation changes, we also have flat layouts that produces "different" experiencing, such as the wall scrapping chicanes from montreal, and even the very high curb chicanes from the french gp, i guess it's all about having each track being very unique and have a more natural identidy.

Alot of criticism to tilk for doing that, wherever he chose to go "rogue" it worked better, like turkey and even sepang, others, most notoriously abu dhabi, needs some changes to produce better racing.