The complex black art that remains critical for F1's new era

The focus on Formula 1’s 2022 rule changes has chiefly revolved around the radical shift towards more ground effect cars.

Thousands of hours were devoted to windtunnel research to ensure that the increased reliance on underfloor-created downforce, plus deterring the outwash effects that ruined the last rules cycle, would deliver machinery that could allow drivers to follow each other better.

But all that effort would have been for nought if one of the most important aspects of the rule changes did not fall in to line too: the tyres. Just as the turbulence created by cars ahead has been a limiting factor to allowing pursuers to pass in recent years, so too has the behaviour of the rubber.

The old characteristics of the sensitive Pirellis meant that as soon as the tyres started sliding, as a result of the loss of downforce in another car’s wake, the temperatures shot up and their performance dropped off. It meant little chance of making a move on the car ahead.

This behaviour was one of the key reasons why, as part of the FIA’s target letter to Pirelli about the type of tyres it needs to produce, getting rid of what became known as such ‘thermal degradation’ was viewed as a critical element of the new rules package because there was a very real risk that if the tyres did not do their job this year, then all the aero efforts could have been pretty much wasted.

One man who has long kept a sharp eye on the influences on the racing is Alex Wurz, chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA). He has a super analytical approach when it comes to understanding the factors needed to deliver spectacular battles, and says his fellow drivers have absolutely no doubts how important tyre behaviour is in this.

“Tyre are as equally important as the aero rule changes in our opinion,” says Wurz, as he analyses the Bahrain GP spectacle.

That is why the GPDA made it clear, as part of its original push with Liberty Media and the FIA several years ago to improve the rules, that the tyre issue needed to be addressed.

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT03, Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL36

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“We saw the very sensitive thermal behaviour of the tyre’s surface,” he explains. "The overall problem drivers constantly reported was that, when following with disturbed aerodynamics, you would lose grip and then you slide.

“So even if the car behind was a few tenths faster, just a few corners of sliding meant the tyre’s surface overheated and then the grip loss was often too large to keep attacking. After extensive meetings between the GPDA, with F1, the teams and Pirelli, invited by the FIA's Jean Todt, we actually saw a remarkable turn around and improvement in this area. So credit to Pirelli on helping improve this.”

Wurz says there have been interesting case studies in recent years about how a whole host of influences impact the ability of the tyres to help produce close racing. And he says one remarkable lesson came from last year’s Qatar Grand Prix on the hot and abrasive Losail circuit. In theory it should have been a nightmare for the thermal management of the tyres; but in the end it produced some great action. Wurz has his theories about what happened.

"They are not just having a go at each other for one lap and then they are having to back off. There was no backing off to save the tyres: they were on top of each other the whole time" Alex Wurz

“Losail is a track with a rough track surface, and with long corners,” he says. “So the cornering friction energy is high, which means the surface of the tyre is permanently lateral sliding and getting hot. In the past, I would have said this would be a drama for overtaking. But it turned out that the cars could fight for multiple laps, and there was much less thermal sensitivity visible. For me, this is an amazing direction and something important.

“But we saw another phenomenon, as the Losail asphalt is now a few years old. Despite its age, it is in good shape, but the bitumen on the surface has been impacted by the sun's UV burning it away over the years. I strongly believe that the Pirelli compound does not like high bitumen asphalts, and Losail proved my theory right.”

The theory of Losail working because of a chemical reaction rather than mechanical was backed up at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix too – with the Jeddah surface having been treated to reduce the presence of bitumen and it once again not delivering a race where drivers were hampered by tyre temps.

Those successes prompted some wild talk of tracks being forced to copy the ingredients and revamp their asphalt to follow suit, but Wurz is far from convinced. He thinks it would be wrong to force venues to undergo expensive work just to try something that may or may not work.

Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin AMR22, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari F1-75

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“I hope we, that is F1 and FIA, are not going to demand a certain asphalt mix on all tracks, so they are all the same,” he said. “This would be a fundamentally wrong direction in my opinion. But for understand the tyre science and development, the Losail experience is very interesting and it’s something we can learn from. But I really like the Pirelli direction, and that’s why I generally believe that F1 races have every chance to become harder fought and as close as ever before.”

With the Bahrain Grand Prix having delivered a good race, Wurz feels that the ingredients are there are, with the new aero and tyres, to feel optimistic about the potential of the new rules.

“We’ve seen the new rules work for aero, but that’s only the beginning,” he said. “We must also understand that this has only been possible because tyres don’t overheat anymore.”

F1 managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn certainly agrees, and think a combination of tyres and aero was important for the rules working in Bahrain.

“I’m pretty pleased and I think when you watch the cars racing, they can race,” he said in Sakhir. "They are not just having a go at each other for one lap and then they are having to back off. There was no backing off to save the tyres: they were on top of each other the whole time. That is a credit to Pirelli but I think also it is a credit to the type of cars we have.”

It is clear though that F1 needs more samples than just one race to fully understand the implications of how the 2022 tyres are behaving – as there could be some first indications of negative aspects too. Wurz cites the impact of lower blanket temps as perhaps being something that could reduce strategic options, as the undercut is no longer so powerful.

“Out-lap management now is very different, which has an influence on the race strategy, as with harder compounds the undercut is less powerful,” he said. “But one of the consequences might be that teams run hotter brakes to get heat into the fronts. That could then prevent drivers from being able to follow another driver too close for risk of over-cooking the brakes...”

The complexity of F1 knows no bounds, and just as one answer is found to a problem, so too other unintended consequences emerge. That’s why the positive early signs from Bahrain mark not proof that the 2022 rules on aero and tyres have worked – but that simply we have a starting point for better understanding the influences at play that can help ensure F1’s new rule era is a success.

Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images