2021 F1 News and Prediction Tournament

[PeteC]

I really don't follow this as much as I should, if it was really interesting. Is it true that Perelli dictates the type of tires to be used at every race? This week it seems to be C3 hard, C4 medium, and C5 soft. Which are apparently from commentator remarks the softest of all the ranges. No one else has a say in the decision?

[pharvey]

I really don't follow this as much as I should, if it was really interesting. Is it true that Perelli dictates the type of tires to be used at every race? This week it seems to be C3 hard, C4 medium, and C5 soft. Which are apparently from commentator remarks the softest of all the ranges. No one else has a say in the decision?

Pirelli certainly decide the compounds for race, but must admit I had to look up the regulations for FP and Qualifying. This is an interesting read (well, for petrol heads at least!): -

[EDIT] Apologies - Link not working, so Cut & Paste

"So you’ve watched a few races now but are lost amongst all the talk on tyres. It would be no surprise to discover if 30% of all commentating was about tyres. So why all the fuss?
The tyres used by an F1 car are heavily engineered and complex — differing dramatically from those used on passenger cars. How they are used throughout the weekend also requires careful thought and planning. And whilst there’s a lot to be known about tyres, let’s start with a simple primer.
Pirelli is the sole tyre supplier for Formula 1. They are one of the very few components that are common amongst all F1 teams. As such, teams spend many hours understanding their characteristics to harvest as much performance out of them as possible.
Dry Tyres vs. Wet Tyres
Figure 1: Tyre Tread Comparison

There are two broad types of tyres: dry tyres and wet tyres. The key difference between them is the style of their tread. Tread refers to the part of the tyre that makes contact with the road. Dry tyres have a ‘slick’ tread — meaning that the entire surface is smooth to maximise the amount of rubber making contact with the road. Maximum contact between rubber and road equals maximum grip.
Wet tyres, on the other hand, have a ‘grooved’ tread. The purpose of the grooves is to break the surface tension of any water that is on the road and to displace that water. The intermediate tyre is suitable for when conditions are changeable with at least some moisture on track whilst the extremes are suited for heavy rain. The grooves of an extreme tyre (see Figure 1 above) are more aggressive than the intermediate. As a result, they can displace up to 65 litres of water per second versus the 30 litres for an intermediate.
Why not just use one tyre for all conditions?
F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and wants to see its cars operating at the maximum. This is best facilitated by having different tyres that can optimize performance regardless of conditions. Let’s explore what would happen if dry tyres were used in wet conditions.
The rain covers the track in a layer of water. Instead of the dry tyres gripping onto the road as they would normally, they slide over the layer of water with little to no friction. At its worst, the car rides completely on the surface of the water (known as aquaplaning) and the driver loses almost all control of the car.
On the flip side, the use of wet tyres on a dry track will result in sub-optimal levels of grip and performance. Normally the rain lowers the temperature of the track and keeps the tyres cold. The grooving of wet tyres helps combat this due to higher friction and allows the tyre to operate at the optimal temperature. This has the opposite effect in the dry, with no cooling from the water, the added friction causes the tyre to overheat and accelerates the degradation process. Tyre degradation refers to the inevitable wearing down of the tyre and loss of grip.
In either case, failing to use the right tyre in the right conditions results in poor outcomes.
Different Tyre Compounds
Figure 2: Understanding Tyre Markings

Focussing on dry tyres now, the above figure shows the three dry tyre compounds you are likely to see at a Grand Prix weekend. Compound simply refers to the composition of a specific tyre.
The red marked tyre refers to the softest available, the white marked tyre represents the hardest available and medium in the middle. A softer tyre provides you with more grip at the expense of compromised durability. Durability refers to the life of the tyre and how much stress it can take.
This is why drivers are not solely using the soft tyre during races, as they would not make it the end of the Grand Prix without multiple pitstops. Pitstops provide the opportunity for a driver to swap their old worn tyres for a newer and fresher set. However, pitstops take between 20–30 seconds. Taking unnecessary pitstops could be the difference between winning and finishing lower down the order. Conversely, running on one set of tyres to avoid pitstops is both not allowed by the rules, but also very unlikely as the life of the tyre is usually less than race distance. What this means is the tyre will either fail (due to a puncture) or make the car almost undrivable.
Figure 3: Compounds Available Throughout the Year

Earlier I mentioned the colour markings refer to the softest/hardest available compounds for that weekend. The keyword here is available. In reality, Pirelli constructs 5 different dry compound tyres for F1 as shown in Figure 3 above. The C1 compound is the hardest (most durable/least grippy) and the C5 compound is the softest (most grippy, least durable) with the others at varying points on the spectrum.
For each race weekend, Pirelli nominates 3 compounds that will be available to the teams. Once the selection is made, the colour coding is applied afterwards. This way, the red tyre will always refer to the softest out of the three, the white the hardest and the yellow in between. Figure 3 above also shows the potential ranges for the different coloured tyres. Examples of potential selections include (1) C1=White, C2=Yellow and C3=Red or (2) C2=White, C3=Yellow and C5=Red. Notice for the 2nd selection, there is no requirement saying the compounds must be strictly adjacent.
Many factors influence Pirelli’s decision on what tyre to bring to what races but that will be hashed out in another article.
Rules for Tyre Use Over the Weekend
Figure 4: Tyres and the Weekend

Over a weekend, each driver will have 13 sets of tyres available to them. Normally, the driver gets to choose which combination of the red, yellow and white tyres for that weekend. However, another consequence of the ongoing global pandemic is that this year every driver gets the same combination. This is to reduce the logistical strain on Pirelli. For the sake of illustration, I have selected a particular combination of tyres in Figure 4 above.
Drivers may use as many sets of tyres as they want in any session over the weekend but are required to hand back tyres to Pirelli at different stages of the weekend. This is to ensure drivers participate in each session and avoid hoarding of tyres for qualifying runs.
At the end of each practice session between FP1 and Q2 inclusive, each driver needs to hand back 2 sets of tyres. Typically these will be those that are the most worn out. There are a few additional rules that are crucial for the race:
Pirelli will nominate two tyres for the race. At least one of these tyres must be used during the race by each driver. This rule does not apply if there is rain during the race.
For any driver that makes it into the final session of qualifying (Q3), they will be allocated a set of soft tyres.
Any driver that makes it into Q3 will have to start the race on the tyre on which they set their fastest lap in Q2. For a full rundown on qualifying read here. If there is rain at the start of the race, this rule does not apply as either intermediate or extreme wet tyres will be used. If there is rain during the Q2 session, all drivers are free to select any tyre to begin the race on Sunday.
For drivers that did not make it into Q3, they will have the additional soft tyre available to them when nominating their race strategy for Sunday’s race."




As for FP3 today...... It's all over the place!!

[pharvey]

Could be a very, very interesting race tomorrow.... Will wait for Pete to post the full Grid/Qualifying, but top three being: -

1. Lecrerc (Ferrari)
2. Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Verstappen (Red Bull)

A happy Lerclerc, a very happy Hamilton and a very pi$$ed off Verstappen (Oh dear.....).

Looking forward to it - though I think there's going to be a couple of Yellow Flags/Safety Cars.

[PeteC]

Qualification
Azerbaijan Grand Prix, 5 June 2021

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/57369739

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[PeteC]

Norris got a Red Flag/Pit penalty and is now pushed back to starting 9th instead of 6th.

[PeteC]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/57376001

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[PeteC]

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[PeteC]

Parahandy wins Azerbaijan based upon type of points, with four of us finishing the race with 9 points. He also remains first on the Leader Board.

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[PeteC]

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[PeteC]

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France is up next in two weeks time. Good luck to all!

[pharvey]

Well, Hamilton certainly dropped the proverbial b*ll*ck there didn't he...... What the hell was he thinking? Well in the points (even if he dropped a place at the re-start) and back to leading the championship with Verstappen having just gone out...... BUT NO, he has to take the big risk and go for 1st - yes, you can say it's his competitive nature..... Come on Lewis just think! I'm certainly questioning the "excuse" that he accidently hit the brake switch!!

Have to feel for Verstappen - a DNS through no fault of his own (or RB's) after driving a near as could be perfect race. Pirelli could be in the spotlight with the two tyre failures, although are insisting they were due to debris on the track.

LH and Mercedes will be happier than RB with LH and Verstappen finishing the race 0-0 on points.....

Again, big hand to Vettel who drove a hell of a race - up 9 places to a 2nd place Podium finish..... Leclerc certainly not a happy bunny!!

Let's see how Mercedes perform away from the "Street Tracks"......

[PeteC]

French GP qualifying

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[PeteC]

Bad decisions by Mercedes.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/57545961

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[PeteC]

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[PeteC]

Big Boy wins the week and his first win of the season.

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