Pirelli has had exclusive control over one of the crucial aspects of Formula 1 – the tires. Without a doubt, tires are among the most critical components of these sophisticated engineered racing bred. They are simply round pieces of rubber, yet they play an indispensable role in allowing these cars to thunder across the tarmac at frighteningly high speeds.
The exclusive tire manufacturing rights in Formula 1 are currently held by Pirelli, and no other company has come close to establishing its dominance in this segment as much as Pirelli has. Currently, Pirelli offers a wide range of tires for both dry and wet conditions, with ongoing testing for new tires. There are three dry tire compounds: Soft, Medium, and Hard, along with two types of wet tires, namely Intermediate and Wet tires.
Pirelli awarded with one last run by F1
What if we were to say that this brand shall exit F1 soon, it would cause a massive uproar certainly big enough to shake entire foundations of F1. Fortunately, that wouldn’t happen so soon as Pirelli recently extended its contract as tyre suppliers till 2027 F1 season, i.e. an year after new technical regulations.
It has thwarted other brands like Michelin, Firestone, Bridgestone away from the sport after a successful and intelligent strategy run throughout all these years. It’s ‘slick’ tyres were an immediate upgrade for cars managing to maximize performance of these monsters during the race. Although, the brand has had its fair share of difficulties it has proven reliable with regular developments and new advancements in tyre compounds.
Nico Rosberg spills the beans over Pirelli warning
Sky F1 pundit and ex champion Nico Rosberg has spilled some beans over a recent disagreement between the teams about tyre issues in the sport to which the company had replied with a warning about 6 months ago. Their words were apparently ignored and with the regulations changing a lot the frustrations have only increased with the passing of season.
“They could see an issue. The sport didn’t listen. That was my latest information, actually.”
“The drivers and teams are frustrated that it wasn’t sorted out. It’s tough, out there a lot of things have changed since 2021 – the cars, the regulations, the tyre surfaces, the weight, the tyres themselves. I wonder if Pirelli overestimated the capability of the tyres now as opposed to what they were in 2021.”
“Unfortunately this weekend the regulations had to change, more than half way through the weekend, pretty much the regulations change each day. That’s frustrating especially when some of them suffered the consequence that these weren’t the rules on Friday when they used up some sets of tyres. It was almost a case of luck which tyres you did have available today.”
Do you want to see a single company rule the entire circus of F1 or do you want multiple manufacturers to return to the sport making things rather interesting.
