MARCH 14, 2012

Tyre strategy to vary more in 2012?

F1 tyre supplier Pirelli believes that it has placed more emphasis on race strategy in 2012 by reducing the performance gap between its four compounds and extending the window of peak performance.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli™s motorsport director, says: œIn general, our tyres are going to be less conservative, as can be seen from the choices we have nominated for the first three grands prix.

In Australia last year, Pirelli nominated the hard and soft compounds from its available four (the others being the supersoft and medium). This year, however, they have been less conservative and opted for the soft and medium, with the latter more comparable in character to the 2011 soft. It is anticipated that there will be around 0.6s per lap difference between the two tyres.

œWhat we have aimed to do is give teams and drivers more options, continued Hembery. œThe teams asked us to challenge them, and naturally our aim is not to disappoint them.

The closer proximity of performance, allied to a tendency for the tyres to degrade much more quickly if pushed hard early in a stint, means that tyre usage should be more open to variations in strategy rather than teams simply bolting on softs and switching to the prime tyre late in a race.

The soft and medium tyres represent the most versatile combination to deal with an extensive range of temperatures than can prevail in Melbourne. Early forecasts also indicate that rain could affect the season™s first day of free practice on Friday.