F1: Pirelli Takes New Hard Tire To Hockenheim

Formula 1

F1: Pirelli Takes New Hard Tire To Hockenheim

Drivers will have two sets of the hard tire to try alongside their regular allocation of softs and mediums in Germany...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted July 17, 2012 Balen (BEL)

Pirelli will roll out its new hard tire in Hockenheim this weekend after rain meant it wasn’t possible to try it at Silverstone. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Pirelli is taking its experimental new hard tire to Hockenheim after rain meant it wasn’t possible to try it at Silverstone.

Drivers will have two sets of the hard to try alongside their regular allocation of softs and mediums for the race weekend. The extra sets will be very handy as they will guarantee extra running at a track no one has seen since 2010.

“After a wet Silverstone, we hope to give the drivers the chance to run on the experimental hard compound tire during free practice at Hockenheim,” said Pirelli motor sport boss Paul Hembery. "But the weather in Germany at this time of year can be almost as unpredictable as it is in England; when we were at Hockenheim for the GP3 Series two years ago, we saw plenty of rain, although it’s been very hot in the past, too.

“The new hard tire is not a big evolution, but it has a slightly wider working range, which should make it easier for the teams to get the tires up to temperature and maintain them in the correct operating window.”

Pirelli has no plans to introduce the new hard during the 2012 season, although it is open minded should the teams agree to try it.

“We’re running them in Friday Free Practice only as with the championship so finely balanced, we feel that it would be unfair to suddenly alter one of the fundamental parameters that the teams have made a lot of effort to understand and get the most out of," Hembery said. "But we enjoy a very productive dialogue with them, and we will always take into account the wishes of the majority.

“It’s certainly going to be interesting hearing what they have to say about the new tire, and seeing if their impressions match up to the conclusions that we have drawn from our private testing. Coming to a circuit that is new to us always holds a different challenge, as we don’t have any of our own previous data to compare it with.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.