MILAN, Italy (May 14, 2013) — Pirelli Tyre S.p.A., responding to criticism from Formula 1 teams of its 2013 F1 tire offerings, is redesigning its race tires for the global racing series combining elements of the 2012 tire construction with the compounds developed for 2013.
"Our aim is to provide the teams with a new range which mixes the stability of the 2012 tires and the performance of the current ones," said Pirelli Motorsport Director Paul Hembery, who acknowledged the 2013 version was "probably too performance-orientated for the current regulations.
"As a company, we have always moved quickly to make improvements where we see them to be necessary," he said.
The revised construction tires will be available starting with the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, June 7-9, in Montreal.
Pirelli did not say what the redesign will cost.
The issue of tire performance has been making headlines since the season opened in Australia eight weeks ago and came to a head after last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, where winner Fernando Alonso took the checkered flag despite using five sets of tires during the 190-mile race.
Mr. Hembery attributed the performance problem in part on limited preseason testing time and lower track temperatures at the testing venues.
"The teams are of the same opinion as we are in wanting longer testing times and different locations for the next tests," Mr. Hembery said. "We developed the 2013 tires on the basis of careful simulations that were, however, not sufficient, taking into account the improved speed of cars (up to 3 seconds per lap)."
Pirelli said it also is taking this step to redesign to avoid tread delaminations that have occurred at the past couple of races. Pirelli has determined these were caused by track debris and stressed that its examinations of the tires showe the core structure was not affected.
Pirelli's action comes amidst a number of public proclamations by Mr. Hembery and others that the tire maker would like to hear from the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile — Formula 1's sanctioning body — about extending the tire contract past this season.
The FIA granted Pirelli in 2010 the exclusive F1 tire supply contract for the 2011-13 seasons. LINK >> http://edit.tirebusiness.com/article/20100623/NEWS/306239995/pirelli-picked-as-f1-gp2-tire-supplier-for-2011-13-update