Pirelli chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera is optimistic about a fruitful long-term future in Formula One because the tyre-maker’s impact on its return to the series has surpassed all expectations.
The Italian brand returned to the F1 grid this season after a 20-year absence to replace Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone as the sole supplier until 2013.
F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone directed Pirelli to create a compound that ensures two to three pit stops in each race and creates the tire degradation that results in cars travelling at different speeds and encourages more overtaking.
“I’m satisfied because we were able to do even better than what was asked of us,” Tronchetti Provera told The Associated Press in an interview at the Turkish Grand Prix before Saturday’s qualifying session. “Our target was to provide technology to all teams and emotion to all viewers, and we did both.”
That leads Tronchetti Provera to think the existing deal could be extended if the conditions are right.
“We are here to stay unless it becomes too costly,” he said. “The relation between cost and return has to be positive otherwise it is not convenient.”
Although some reservations were expressed, notably by drivers, about the new tyres leading into the new season, that circumspection has generally turned to excitement, and Pirelli has earned praise for making the sport more exciting.
Last month’s Chinese GP highlighted that when, despite starting from pole and looking odds-on for a third straight race win, F1 champion Sebastian Vettel was outwitted by British driver Lewis Hamilton.
McLaren’s strategy in Shanghai was to give Hamilton one more pit stop than the German and, as tyre degradation kicked in on Vettel’s Red Bull, Hamilton had the fresher tyres as he sped to victory in the closing stages.
That was a welcome sight for viewers — and for Tronchetti Provera, whose engineers worked tirelessly to provide an alternative to the traditional rock-solid tyres that last 50 or more laps and remove an element of suspense from racing.
“(The) three grand prix (races so far) were much more emotional than in the past, (with) very good tyres lasting no more than 23 or 24 laps,” he said. “I think that everyone enjoyed it, from the pilots (drivers), to the viewers, to the teams.”
Making racing tyres that wear out quickly after 24 laps may seem no big deal, but in engineering terms this is far harder than building long-lasting ones.
“This has been the opposite of what we have to do usually,” Tronchetti Provera said. “The problem is the structure, the structure of the tyes being perfect. You have to put together compounds in order to guarantee the right grip in different races. You have different ground, different temperature, different humidity and different cars.”
