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| The Most Important Man in Formula One? Paul Hembery Evaluates Tyre Usage During a Grand Prix |
Paul Hembery, Motorsport Director for Pirelli Tyres talks today about the 2012 tyres and what we might expect from the spectacle that is Formula One.
People may not be aware of the fact that Paul has been involved in motorsport for the past 12 years. Pirelli became the sole tyre supplier in 2011 and were given the task of making Formula One more interesting on the tyre front. Paul was born in Yeovil. He spends a lot of his time in hotel rooms, following Pirelli's move into F1. He also has a place in Milan where he spends some of his time.
Paul started working for Pirelli in 1992, after spending 20 years learning his trade in the tyre industry. He mainly worked in research and development. His personal value increased, so much so that one of the worlds best known tyre manufacturers employed him.
It is sometimes forgotten how important tyres are in Formula One. So much time has to be spent by the teams, learning how their car works with each compound. In 2011, Ferrari put out a car that looked good and was aerodynamically excellent, however, we all remember those good starts and overtaking moves being ruined when they changed to the harder tyre. This was because their car just didn't work on hard tyres. At the final Barcelona test, the teams were given a taste of the new tyres for 2012. If a car doesn't work well with a particular compound then they have no chance. That goes for everyone from Champions Red Bull Racing to HRT.
Back to the man himself, in my view one of the most important people you will see in a Formula One Pit Lane. Paul himself was behind Pirelli's move into the World Rally Championship from 2008 and then their move into Formula One.
I'm going to take this opportunity to let you know that the 2012 Season Preview e-magazine will not be the end. In April issue one of a brand new e-magazine will be available. Now the best bit, it will be FREE. Issue one will have a four page feature on the history of Pirelli in motorsport. The e-magazine will be available direct from this website. It will also feature reviews of the races that have taken place. I will give you more information in an article on this site early next week.
You are about to learn so much about this seasons tyres. Not only that, as the tyres are the most important factor in Formula One, you may be able to start making your predictions for the coming season. Although, don't tell anyone I said that.
Here is the interview with Paul Hembery, Motorsport Director of Pirelli Tyres.
In my opinion Formula one was so much better last season, I think mainly because of the tyre wear at some tracks. How difficult is it to pick the right tyres for the right track?
PH: “It’s not easy at all: particularly last year when all the tracks were new to us. Essentially, it’s a question of trying to best match the characteristics of our tyres to the characteristics of each circuit, bearing in mind factors such as the track layout, the nature of the surface and the likely weather conditions. We also consider how each combination might add to the spectacle in terms of strategy. We’re certainly helped by all the data we collect over the course of the year as well as simulation and also surface samples, but it’s not an easy exercise.”
What will be different about the 2012 tyres? Will they need changing more or less during a race? What have you tried to do in that area?
PH: “We’re still aiming to see between two and three pit stops per car at every race, so that has not changed. Last year we had 2.25 stops per car per race, so we hit the target exactly. However, the tyres are distinctly different this year compared to last year, with new profiles and new compounds. Generally speaking, all the compounds are softer and they are definitely more biased towards performance. The gaps between the compounds are also much closer, which should lead to some interesting race strategies.”
When qualifying is over and the top 10 is decided, most will be on softest option. What lap do you expect to see the first pit stops at Australia?
PH: “It’s hard to say exactly as our 2012 tyres have never yet run in Melbourne and it’s impossible to predict exactly how the track and weather conditions will be when we get there. But last year we saw the first stops between around lap 12 and lap 20, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see something similar this year. We’ll have to wait and see what the conditions are like to be sure though.”
Will the people watching at home be able to tell what tyre cars have on in 2012? Because my only criticism I have of Pirelli in 2011 is that without the commentators, we wouldn't have known most of the time.
PH: “Yes, we have enhanced the visibility of the colours so that they stand out more. We’ve done that through the use of more prominent markings that will be easier to recognise. It’s actually quite a complex piece of stickering, as you need to find a process that will remain visible over a long period of time and adhere to the sidewall despite huge speeds and forces. But this year the tyres should definitely be easier to tell apart.”
How frustrating has it been, or should I say is it, that the car you've had for testing is so old?
PH: “You can only work with the equipment you’ve got, and while the Toyota may have been old, it was a ‘neutral’ manufacturer, which did not show bias towards any existing teams. It’s been clear for a while that we needed a more modern solution, but one that did not hand any single team a particular advantage, and that’s what we’ve been working on. We’re close to arriving at answer that is acceptable to everyone, and we hope to announce that shortly.”
Surely it benefits the teams for you to have an up to date car. What difference does it make in your eyes when it comes to developing tyres an older car?
PH: “It’s mainly a question of differences in speed and aerodynamic downforce. A lot has happened in the last three years since the Toyota was new, both in terms of technological advances and new regulations. This means that the forces acting on a 2009 car are not identical to the forces acting on a 2012 car, and that’s what makes it difficult for us when it comes to developing the tyres.”
Will this years tyres make the.racing even more interesting? Or pretty much the same?
PH: “We hope that the action will be even more exciting this year. We learned a lot in our debut season, as you would expect, and 2012 is all about putting those lessons into practice. I think we’ll see a bigger element of strategy this year, as the result of the performance gap between the compounds closing up. This should lead to closer racing, as the speed differential between some of the cars on different tyres won’t be as big as it was last year.”
Is there still likely to be a high amount of degradation on the softest compound ?
PH: “The softest tyre, the P Zero Red supersoft, is in fact the only compound that is completely unchanged from last year, although the profile is new for 2012. This new profile will help the tyre deliver peak performance for longer – so to that extent it will degrade less, but ultimately we expect the overall range to be about the same: 100 kilometres or so. That will give us between two to three pit stops on average per race, as we wanted”
Are Pirelli enjoying being part of F1 again?
PH: “Absolutely: there’s a lot of enjoyment and a lot of pride in what we are doing. Our Formula One tyres are global ambassadors for Italian excellence and technology all over the world. Formula One also shares and complements our brand values at Pirelli: style, performance, passion and exclusivity. Who wouldn’t enjoy it?”
Does Pirelli working in Formula One benefit the road car industry at all?
PH: “Definitely: that’s one of the key reasons why we are involved. We look on Formula One as being our biggest research and development laboratory, with all the grand prix circuits that we race on forming the ultimate test track. It’s normal for our tyres in Formula One to be subjected to forces of up to 5G, as well as having the equivalent of more than 1000 kilograms pushing down on them under full aerodynamic load. So it’s clear to see how the sheer extremes that our tyres go through can help us gather information to produce the best road car tyres. This includes products such as the new Trofeo range – which is designed for frequent track use – as well as the P Zero Ultra High Performance range.”
In your opinion who made the best use of any of your compounds in 2011? And when? And how?
PH: “That’s an interesting question but in the end we are not privy to the whole picture when it comes the strategy and data from each team, as quite rightly there are certain facts that they prefer to keep to themselves. So we can only go on the facts that we see along with everyone else. And it’s hard to argue with the statistics; Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button have both been very good when it comes to tyre management, and I don’t think it’s any co-incidence that they finished first and second in the championship last year.”
Finally, tell the fans anything else they might need to know about the 2012 tyres? And the same question for Pirelli?
PH: “What people maybe don’t realise about Pirelli is how much work goes on behind the scenes and how much of our competition philosophy goes into the road car tyres. There are several examples of this from the past; for example our low-profile tyres for high-performance sports cars have their roots in technology we developed for the Lancia Stratos to go rallying. One thing that all these tyres have in common is the huge army of people who work in research and development, but are not in the public eye. Whether we’re talking about road car tyres or Formula One tyres, Pirelli operates at a hugely high level of technology: but most of it goes unseen. That’s something that people should know.”
Bet you thought it was over! One last one. Are Pirelli in F1 for the long haul, if the option is there?
PH: “Where we go in the future, beyond the end of our present contract to 2013, is a collective board decision that obviously hasn’t been made yet. But it’s fair to say that we have all been very pleased by the return on our investment in Formula One and the visibility that it gives us. If the economic conditions are also favourable, then naturally we would be very interested to continue.”
I would like to finish this article/interview by expressing my thanks to Paul for the opportunity to interview him.
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