F1 News

Low degradation tyres the target for 2020

Low degradation tyres the target for 2020

12-08-2019 14:41
1

Bevan Youl

Pirelli and F1 have informed teams of their three main targets for the 2020 season including low tyre degradation to allow a wider working range, harder racing and less overheating.

The 2019 tyres have been criticised several times throughout the season with teams struggling to get them to the right temperature and in the right working range.
 
Some even called for a revert back to the 2018 tyres but that was dismissed as an option by Pirelli, who also added some of the targets for the 2021 season.
 
Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola said (quoted by Motorsport.com): "They have the target letter now.
 
"And we are happy to receive their comments as soon as possible to see if we can address some of the requests.

"The idea is to go on a low degradation tyre, more resistant to overheating, so drivers can push the tyres and so on.

"Then we have to define exactly what we mean with that. If we say that we have three compounds at each race with zero degradation, it's useless because everybody's just using the quickest.

"When we say low degradation tyres we have to put numbers on that."

For the big regulations overhaul in 2021 it also bring 18-inch wheels to the sport, meaning that the tyre design is going to be different than before, something Isola  wanted to give the teams an idea of for when they design their cars.
 
"Yes, some of the targets are very similar, some of the targets are more for 2021,” he added.

“To have something that is comparable when we move to the new size, to understand the level of performance, to understand there are some parameters that they want to consider in order to make the design of the car that is in line with the tyres that you are developing, otherwise you are disconnected, and it's not good.”