Official Formula One tyre suppliers Pirelli have welcomed the amendments to the regulations announced by the FIA on Tuesday. One tweak to the tyre usage rules will allow the Italian manufacturer to evaluate new tyre types throughout the year at Grand Prix meetings.
At some events, all the teams could be supplied with an additional specification of dry weather tyre to test during Friday’s two free practice sessions. The option to try out new tyres will be entirely at the discretion of the FIA, together with Pirelli, and it will only be exercised if the correct opportunity arises.
“The latest amendments to the sporting regulations are simply another part of our pre-season preparations as we build up to our Grand Prix debut in just over two weeks' time,” explained Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery. “We needed to put in place a mechanism within the regulations now to allow us to test new tyres in a competitive context this year if necessary.
“It’s great that we have this possibility open to us because we are already hard at work defining the specification of our tyres for the future. Without this potential opportunity we would be unable to test with a current car and would be relying solely on a previous generation vehicle, so it could be a good solution to the testing issue for both ourselves and the teams.”
A second rule change approved by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council will see teams be handed an additional set of prime tyres at selected races throughout the season. The FIA and Pirelli will decide at which events the extra sets will be offered and the teams will be given at least a weeks’ notice of any addition. They will then receive the extra rubber at the start of Friday free practice, with the usual regulations applying from then on.
“We’re not sure how often or indeed if at all we are going to use these fresh opportunities,” added Hembery. “But the effect is to open up our options by putting in place at an early stage some pre-determined processes before we get into the swing of the season. Both the teams and ourselves are having to take on a lot of data in a comparatively short space of time, so the latest tyre regulation amendments from the World Motor Sport Council could help to accelerate that learning process if required.”
Pirelli are to bring their hard and soft compound choices to the forthcoming Australian Grand Prix, which will kick start the 2011 season in Melbourne on March 25-27.
Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)
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