F1 cars represent the pinnacle of technology in the automotive industry, and are also the world's top three sports events along with the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup......
The 1.6T V6 turbocharged engine has more than 1,000 horsepower, 000 acceleration in less than two seconds, a top speed of more than 350 km/h, and lateral gravity acceleration up to 5G...... The limits of all automotive industry are concentrated in an F1 car weighing less than 800 kilograms. However, no matter how strong the performance of the car, it has to be played by the four tires on the body and the asphalt track, so the performance of the tires is crucial. To this end, the manufacturers who supply the tires for the Formula 1 cars are "racking their brains" on these four tires......
A4 make a fuss on paper
Formula 1, also known as Formula 1, means "Formula 1", and all racing cars are developed and manufactured in accordance with the uniform technical standards set by the FIA, including the tires. The tire size of F1 cars is relatively special, starting from 2022, the size of the racing wheel rim has been changed from 13 inches to 18 inches, and the tire specifications of the current F1 car are 305/720-18 for the front wheel and 405/720-18 for the rear wheel, of which 305 and 405 are the width of the front and rear tread (mm), 720 is the outer ring diameter (mm) of the tire, and 18 is the inner ring diameter (inches) of the tire. Don't look at the tread width, which is much wider than the tires of civilian vehicles we use daily, but the total grounding area of the four tires is less than a piece of A4 paper.
As we all know, the greater the contact area between the tire tread and the ground, the more traction is provided to the vehicle. From 2009 onwards, the dry tyres of F1 cars were changed to "slick tyres" with a tread completely devoid of tread (grooves) for maximum grip. In addition, taking into account the road surface conditions of different tracks (granularity or roughness of asphalt) and local climatic conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.), tire manufacturers need to use higher technology and new materials to make the rubber of the tires have different hardness and softness.
For example, Pirelli tyres in use today are available in six smooth composite options, coded from C0 to C5, with C0 being the stiffest and C5 being the softest, as well as medium (semi-wet) and wet (commonly known as all-wet). Regardless of the type of tire, a special rubber and special material formula are used to allow the tire to quickly increase the temperature as it rubs against the track, and at a certain temperature, the surface of the tire will melt into a gel state, providing maximum grip. Therefore, we can often see that before the car is driven onto the track, the team staff will wrap the tires with a heating blanket to heat them up, the temperature is about 90 degrees Celsius, so as to reduce the time it takes for the tires to heat up on the track and ensure that the tires can provide the strongest grip as soon as they hit the ground.
Red, yellow, white, blue, green
In order to distinguish the hardness of these tyres more intuitively, Pirelli has colour-coded the sidewall with red for soft, yellow for medium, white for hard, green for semi-wet and blue for full rain. In addition to the two wet tyres, each race offers a choice of three dry tyres between C0 and C5.
In each race (Friday to Sunday), each driver will receive 13 sets of dry tyres, 4 sets of semi-wet tyres, 3 sets of full wet tyres, and an additional set of dry tyres for those who make it to Q3 of qualifying. All drivers must use at least two types of dry tyres in the official race, provided the track is dry and rainy, of course.
How to use these sets of tyres, especially how to match the three types of dry-terrain tyres, and how to set up a few pit stops to change tyres during the race, will be the key to winning or losing the race. If you use a combination of medium + hard tyres, you can implement a one-pit stop strategy to save at least one pit stop (usually around 24 seconds), but you need to use hard tyres for a long time, and the car will take longer to lap than a car with soft tyres, and if you use a combination of soft + medium (or soft) tyres, you need to implement a two- or three-pit stop tyre change strategy, and use soft tyres to help the car shorten the lap time to make up for the lost time of pit stops.
Of course, it is also necessary to consider the timing of the use of tires, for example, in the early stage of the race, due to the large fuel load of the car, the body is heavier, and in the later stage of the race, the fuel load is small, and the body is light...... Therefore, how to weigh the lap time of the car, the timing of the use of tires of different hardness, the number of pit stops, and whether it rains during the race, light rain or heavy rain, is a delicate "math problem" that every team has to calculate.
F1 with Pirelli
In 2007, to avoid competition among tyre suppliers, F1's regulator, the FIA, introduced a single tyre supplier rule to ensure the safety of cars and races, while also focusing more on superior performance. In 2011, Pirelli became the official tyre supplier for Formula 1 and this year marks the 14th year of the partnership. All teams and cars in each race use Pirelli tyres, and Pirelli's technical team is responsible for supporting the team with technology, information and data to help the team get the best possible tyre management solution.
According to the rules of the race, tyres cannot be changed throughout the year, except at Pirelli's own discretion, but with the agreement of the Formula 1 authorities, the FIA and all F1 teams. During the race, each tyre used is accompanied by an identification code for tracking, and after the race, each tyre is transported to its appropriate place, while the tyres used on the track that are already mounted on the wheels are transported by Pirelli to the Pirelli factory in the UK for processing. According to some data, about 2,300 tires are used on each substation.
The development and testing of tyres is also crucial in order to provide tyres that meet F1 technical standards, help cars perform at their best, and are approved by drivers. The tyres, which are manufactured at Pirelli's headquarters in Milan using state-of-the-art modelling and digital virtual technology, are initially tested in the laboratory and completed by the drivers, with new prototypes being tested on selected Grand Prix tracks before the start of each season, during which feedback and adjustments are collected and the requirements are adjusted before the prototype is confirmed at the end of the season. Subsequently, the confirmed tires will go into production and be used in the following year's World Championships.
Why can't civilian cars be used?
Although the price of an F1 tire is about 650 US dollars, it is not expensive for the rich, but the service life of a bald tire is only about 150-200 kilometers, and if you need to drive from Beijing to Shanghai, you must prepare at least 6 sets of tires (24 tires), and the cost is about 15,600 US dollars, that is, more than 110,000 yuan. With the money, why not charter a private jet?
Secondly, the grip of slick tires is strong, but it needs to reach the operating temperature, which is a necessary prerequisite for using slick tires, and I don't think anyone will use a tire warmer to warm the tires before going out. Also, since the bald tires have no drainage capacity at all, if it is a rainy day, it becomes four skates. Of course, it is theoretically possible to consider using rain tires, but it is still the first two issues - price and temperature conditions.
The third reason is that the size and specifications of F1 tires are unified, and if they are made into civilian tires, they will have to provide different sizes and specifications, and the manufacturing cost will be greatly increased, so that the price problem will return to the front.
Pirelli's civilian tyres
Why get involved in Formula 1 and why develop racing tyres? Is it worth it for Pirelli to spend so much money every year? We've all heard it and we know it: from the track to the street. The technology, data and experience gained on the racing track are essential for the development of consumer products, especially high-performance ones, as well as for cars, as well as for tires, because motorsport is an important open-air testing laboratory for civilian tires.
The list goes on: the low-profile tyres, which are now standard in high-performance civilian cars, were first developed by Pirelli in the 70s for the Lancia Stratos rally car, a few decades later, the run-flat tyre and run-flat tyre were another innovation that was tested for the first time in motorsport, and more recently, the use of Cyber tyres on public roads with the first use of vehicle pit stop telemetry in motorsport. With the introduction of 18-inch tyres to F1 by Pirelli, the fusion of civilian tyres and track technology is even more pronounced.
At present, Pirelli offers three families of tyres for commercial vehicles, including the P ZERO, an ultra-high-performance tyre series launched since 1987, the CINTURATO series, which is characterized by safety, comfort and energy saving, and the SCORPION series for SUVs and crossovers. These include the P Zero and Cinturato P7 equipped with Pirelli's RUN FLAT air-saving technology for coupe models, the Scorpion Verde high-performance eco-tires for SUV and crossover models for recreational models, and the Scorpion ATR Plus, an all-rounder that combines 40% on-road and 60% off-road use. As well as star products such as ELECT, an electric vehicle tire technology developed for pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, it is trusted and loved by users of various models.
The author of this article is Jia Yuntao, a kicking car gang