Formula One 2020

[Lineker]

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As the drivers and Pirelli continue to trade comments over the proposed compounds for 2021, Lewis Hamilton admits that he craves the days of the tyre wars.

In an astonishing attack on Pirelli and its 2021 tyres following Friday's practice sessions, the world champion admitted disbelief that after all this time the Italian manufacturer is still unable to 'get it right'.

The Briton wasn't alone in his thoughts on the 2021 compounds, with most of his his colleagues claiming the tyres were only good for one lap, if that.

Pirelli responded by saying that the drivers were overreacting and that the tyres would come into their own once used in conjunction with the 2021 cars.

However, the 2021 cars will essentially be the 2020 cars, albeit with a limited number of changes, while Pirelli, rather than sticking with the current tyres - which are themselves the 2019 compounds - has tweaked its range.

For some time drivers and fans alike have called for a return to the days of tyre wars, when the manufacturers - like the teams and engine manufacturers - would push one another in the battle for supremacy.

While this could mean a situation similar to that witnessed during the last 'war', where one make of tyres suited a particular circuit more than its rival, drivers and fans argued that this was a small price to pay.

However, as with all wars, the battle for supremacy means continual development, which means money, the last thing the sport wants at a time it is seeking to reduce spending.

Nonetheless, speaking ahead of a race which once again could be dictated by tyre strategy more than any other single factor, Hamilton admits he years for the days of the tyre war.

Asked if there has been pressure applied to Pirelli since Friday's running, and if he feels the current (2019) tyres should be used again, Hamilton said: "The problem is for me is that I... I mentioned it yesterday... I see all the guys from Pirelli and I really have so much respect for the guys here. I think I've got a good relationship with the majority of them.

"It's difficult for us drivers to say..." he continued, "we try to be constructive, we try to be supportive in the back and nothing changes. And then even when we say something not too positive in the media nothing changes so... I do miss the tyre war that used to happen in Formula 1.

"I think with that it's great," he added. "When you don't have any competition you've got no one to base yourself on. Just imagine us as a team or for Max and his team and none of us were here, they wouldn't develop as they do now because they're chasing and competing against other people.

"Formula 1 needs to do something different in the future and that's something we need to do."

"There's not much more to add," agreed teammate, Valtteri Bottas. "Obviously our understanding with the new tyres, the main difference was in terms of reliability. So they got a lot heavier, like just because there's more material to try and prevent any punctures or failures that we had, which is an important thing, but then on the other hand, the performance was not quite there, as expected.

"So quite a bit slower and not that nice feeling to drive," he admitted. "I wasn't a big fan of those tyres, personally, but obviously... I don't know who decides in the end what tyres we're going to be using next year but we'll see."

"I think it's important that we discuss these things," said Max Verstappen, "I think that's the most important... we just have to talk to Pirelli and I hope they also listen a bit to the drivers.

"We anyway are cutting the downforce with the floor, right," he continued, "so I think naturally the pressure on the tyres will be a bit less.

"I mean with the pressure we run in the tyres anyway it's almost like a balloon, so I don't think you can go much higher so I don't think we need...

"If they would be faster then yeah, great, amazing," he laughed, "but I don't think they, are and of course the cars are not fully set up for these tyres, but honestly, the difference we had yesterday in practice is not set-up. Like you can adjust a few things but if the tyre is not turning, it's not working, then you can turn the car upside, it's not going to be the same speed.

"I hope we will not use them," he admitted, "but let's see. Was that an honest answer?"

"Can I just say that the tyre that we do have right now it's been a really good tyre, it really has," added Hamilton. "It's been the best tyre that Pirelli has given us apart from that hyper or ultra or whatever it was, the hypersoft, which was a good compound for one lap, it was pretty awesome.

"I'm personally happy to continue with the tyre that we have. Of course we would want more grip moving forwards but that's definitely not what we've been given so far."

 

[LUKIE]

I disagree with the tyre wars. I don't want to go back to the days where the tyres are perfect for 100 laps, as what is the point? It's about finding balance, which was the whole point of only having one tyre manufacturer. If you go back to the old days of more than one, it's a race to see whose tyres will never degrade.

[Rich]

Of course the drivers want more grip and perfect tyres, but that's not what the sport needs, it's gonna be an endless narrative forever where the drivers will never be satisfied.

[METALMAN]

Some of the more interesting moments this season have come as a result of tyre problems. Drivers have to manage the tyres and teams have to build a chassis that won’t grind them down. If they can’t do that, then I guess that’s on them.

If anything I’d like to see the tyres made less durable to force  more two-stop strategies.

[Chris2K]

I did enjoy the tyre wars in the 90s between Goodyear and Bridgestone, and to a lesser-extent the Bridgestone/Michelin days of the 2000s. Pirelli really can just coast by without anyone to challenge them which doesn't seem to have helped.

If they were going to change anything though I'd like it to be to simply make all 5 compounds of tyres available to everyone for every race, and make the teams have to figure out which strategy is going to be the best. 

[JasonM]

23 minutes ago, Chris2K said:

Pirelli really can just coast by without anyone to challenge them which doesn't seem to have helped.

It's often said that Pirelli can make a perfect slick racing tyre that can last race distances and give people phenomenal grip, but nobody (who is dictating the rules Pirelli has to live by) wants that. I still remember when Nico Rosberg swapped tyres on the second lap at Sochi after bricking his first set on the first lap, and he finished the race without any issues at the end.

We've had years where the tyres failed in epic fashions (2013), to tyres being excessively hardy and drivers being able to finish races after pitting on the second lap (2014).

Pirelli is in an enviable no-win situation where their entire reputation gets staked in the tyres, whilst the FIA/FOM gets to dictate what they want from the tyres. They either overengineer it and people moan that there's no excitement in tyre strategy, or they create too many artificial cliffs and issues and people moan that the tyres are too erratic and drivers have to manage too much.

Either way, Pirelli gets the stick for it in the end. And what we've seen in the past decade is that tyres tend to flip flop between seasons where they're too hardy and seasons where they're too flimsy, because making the 'perfect tyre for racing' (rather than the perfect racing tyre) is a nigh impossible job.

I think a tyre war would only result in the competitors first creating the ultimate racing tyre that can last multiple race distances, and have primo grip.

I think in the end, it will only complicate matters and not really bring the results that race fans want, because the interests of tyre manufacturers and racing teams are very much the hard opposite of what race fans want. Every team would settle for a boring 1-2 like Mercedes has been doing for over half a decade now.

Also, it creates the potential issue of 'tyre works teams', where a team like Mercedes gets a Michelin deal and they get to dictate how the tyre needs to be built for their racing platform, and all the smaller customer teams have to simply work with those tyres that'll work perfectly on a Mercedes only.

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Jasonmufc

[Chris2K]

1 hour ago, Jasonmufc said:

Also, it creates the potential issue of 'tyre works teams', where a team like Mercedes gets a Michelin deal and they get to dictate how the tyre needs to be built for their racing platform, and all the smaller customer teams have to simply work with those tyres that'll work perfectly on a Mercedes only.

That's essentially what happened with Ferrari and Bridgestone for most of the 2000s, which I expect prompted so many teams to jump to Michelin. But hey, if that hadn't happened, Tiago Monteiro wouldn't have a podium to his name.

[Lineker]

4 hours ago, Chris2K said:

If they were going to change anything though I'd like it to be to simply make all 5 compounds of tyres available to everyone for every race, and make the teams have to figure out which strategy is going to be the best. 

We had this until very recently. However it was very unnecessarily costly to transport all those extra tyres to each race (five dry compounds + inters + wets), and also it was deemed too confusing to less hardcore fans (i.e. the "casual viewer").

[METALMAN]

Apparently old Pirelli F1 tyres are used to make cement.

[Lineker]

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Brazilian racer Pietro Fittipaldi will make his Formula 1 debut in this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix, subbing in for Romain Grosjean who sustained injuries in a big crash in Bahrain on Sunday.

Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner visited Grosjean in hospital on Monday and said afterwards that they decided to give the Frenchman “at least one race” off to recover, with the Frenchman dealing with burns to his hands.

Fittipaldi – the grandson of two-time F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi - is Haas's current reserve driver, and has attended the majority of F1 races this season with the team.

In that role, the 24-year-old has previously tested the 2018 and 2019 car, but he’ll get his first taste of the 2020 machine when he gets behind the wheel in practice on Friday.

“After it was decided that the best thing for Romain (Grosjean) was to skip at least one race, the choice to put Pietro (Fittipaldi) in the car was pretty easy,” said Steiner.

“Pietro will drive the VF-20 and he’s familiar with us having been around the team for the past two seasons as a test and reserve driver. It’s the right thing to do and it’s obviously a good opportunity for him.

“He’s been patient and was always prepared for this opportunity – and now it has come. That’s why we want him in the car and I’m sure he’ll do a good job. It’s very demanding being called in at the last minute, but as I said, I think it’s the right thing to do for Haas F1 Team.”

Fittipaldi added: “Most importantly I’m happy Romain is safe and healthy. We’re all very happy his injuries are relatively minor after such a huge incident.

“Obviously, it’s not an ideal set of circumstances to get my first opportunity to compete in Formula 1, but I’m extremely grateful to Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner for their faith in putting me behind the wheel this weekend.

“I’ve been with the team a lot this season, both trackside and working on simulator sessions, so I’m familiar with the team’s operating procedures on a grand prix weekend. It’s going to be exciting to make my first career start in Formula 1 – I’ll be giving it my all and I look forward to starting in free practice on Friday in Bahrain.”

Fittipaldi began racing single seaters in 2013 after getting his start in karts. He won the Formula V8 3.5 Championship in 2017 with six wins, 10 podiums, and a series-record 10 pole positions before his career took him to Indycar, Endurance racing and - in 2019 - to the DTM.

He has made seven test appearances for Haas since 2018, the most recent of which was 2019's young driver test in Abu Dhabi.

He'll be the fourth member of the Fittipaldi family to race in F1 after grandfather Emerson (1970-1980, 144 starts), Emerson's brother Wilson (1972-1975, 35 starts), and Wilson's son Christian (1992-1994, 40 starts). No other family has produced as many F1 drivers.

 

[Chris2K]

I came here to give the stat about him being the fourth Fittipaldi, stupid last paragraph . I'll still point out they were previously (and I guess still are until Sunday) tied with the Villeneuves and the Brabhams on 3.

Despite him being the fourth it's a weird mix so that it can't be said that "three generations" have raced. Emerson did, Pietro is his grandson, but Christian being Wilson's son means that the Emerson->Pietro bloodline skips a generation.

[Lineker]

 

[Lineker]

Lewis has Covid and will miss the race this weekend.

[Chris2K]

I'm sure they have a reserve driver on the books, but it Hulk was to get a shot in the Mercedes...

[Twist]

Vandoorne is their reserve driver. They’ve confirmed he will travel to Bahrain after his Formula E race as planned BUT they haven’t confirmed if he will be the one to replace Hamilton, saying they’ll confirm that in due course.

So still a hope for #Hulkenback.

 

Also, Haas have confirmed Mazepin for 2021 on a multi year deal.

Edited December 1, 2020 by Twist

[LUKIE]

8 minutes ago, Twist said:

Vandoorne is their reserve driver. They’ve confirmed he will travel to Bahrain after his Formula E race as planned BUT they haven’t confirmed if he will be the one to replace Hamilton, saying they’ll confirm that in due course.

So still a hope for #Hulkenback.

 

Also, Haas have confirmed Mazepin for 2021 on a multi year deal.

Formula E is only in pre-season testing. First race is in January. Would be pretty cool seeing VanDoorne in the Mercedes.

Lewis being out makes this upcoming race pretty amazing to look forward to. Quite curious how he picked up Covid given the really strict guildelines most of the drivers/teams have to stick to.

[Lineker]

Expect Haas to confirm Mick quite swiftly now...

[Chris2K]

I think it would be a huge positive PR move for Mercedes to go for Hulk, plus he's been driving last year's car quite a lot this year so he'll be more prepared than most...

I expect contracts and guidelines will likely scupper the chance though.

[Twist]

Well, there’s talk of George Russell standing in as well. I guess in the proviso that Williams allows him to. Would love to see what he has in the W11.

[Lineker]