Labels

🇶🇦 F1 2021 - R20: Twilight tyre fire

Tyres play a massive role in modern-day Formula 1, being one of the few things teams can change and control over the course of a race, with large fractions of a second per lap on each step change.

(c) F1 on Twitter

Sometimes, the black chunks of rubber attached to the most advanced cars in the world become the story - if you’re a newer fan, read this on when it really goes bad, as it did in the 2005 edition of the US Grand Prix. 

After Bridgestone came out of that tyre war with Michelin, they were the sole supplier for four seasons, before departing in favour of Pirelli in 2011, who returned to the sport after a 20-year absence. There’s a commercial or reputational risk involved for the Italian manufacturer in that they make deliberately-degrading tyres - as required by F1 - so teams are forced to make pit stops and use more than one compound over the course of a race. 

They’ve simplified a few things since the Pirelli rainbow days too, bringing three from five sets to each weekend, with the hardest in their range being offered to the teams at the Losail International Circuit.

This year’s title will be won on merit, despite the politics and protests off the track, but the Pirelli tyres will have a massive say, as the neutral third-party in a heated rivalry. They’ve already had some impact, with Max Verstappen suffering a failure in the closing laps at Azerbaijan, neutralised by Lewis Hamilton brake magicking his way to zero points at the same track, but had the initial blowout - the exact cause of which is disputed - not happened, the entire complexion of Hamilton vs Verstappen would be different. 

Even before F1’s first race in Qatar, tyre choice was causing intrigue, with some differentiation among the unusual names at the front. Grid penalties were applied to Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, meaning Alpha Tauri and Alpine - who came into this race locked on 112 points - had their drivers second and third, and the pacy Lando Norris behind them in his McLaren. All three were on soft tyres, in theory, the quickest, but also the quickest to degrade.

Hamilton resisted any turn 1 move and checked out, and was quickly trailed by his championship rival, with the race becoming a question of tyres and vibrations and all those technical details that casual fans don’t care about, unless it goes wrong. 

And it did - but not for the leading pair.

Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture, sending showers of sparks flying in his wake as he limped back to the pit lane. Mercedes did well to change his front wing and tyres in 11 seconds, but that was him taken out of podium contention, eventually being forced to retire the car. And as the race aged, with both Williams cars on hards, and both with just over 30 laps each on that set (Bottas had also done 33 laps) their front lefts delaminated and blew out. Lando Norris reported a slow puncture too, and McLaren pitted him, allowing him to salvage two points.

Separately, Fernando Alonso had preserved his third place brilliantly over his race, receiving a radio message urging him to manage his tyres, combined with the prospect of a charging Sergio Perez on fresh medium tyres looking for a podium with a dozen laps to go, the result seemed inevitable, but Latifi pulling over at turn 4 forced a virtual safety car, which neutralised the race and allowed Alonso his first podium in several years, breaking the team’s tie after Alpha Tauri’s disastrous race, failing to convert a good qualifying performance into any points at all.

But Latifi’s tyre blowout and retirement also had a knock-on effect on the Championship. The extra point for fastest lap had passed around a few drivers, being shared by Hamilton, Perez and ultimately Verstappen, mitigating the impact of conceding first place to the world champion. The Dutch driver put on a set of softs at the end as a means of covering off a Hamilton fastest lap, but it never materialised meaning the deficit is now just eight points with two races to go.

Saudi Arabia’s new track will be finished around 10 days before the race itself and there will be a welcome return for Formula 2, meaning there will be a support series to help rubber in the track, but at the front, there is the prospect of Hamilton and Verstappen being equal on points going into the final race.





By subscribing, you agree with Revue’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Related Reading

Labels:

Most-read posts