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The P Zero Ice Blue hard tyres
makes its season debut at the rapid Silverstone circuit in England: known as
the ‘home of British motorsport’. While the Ice Blue hard is new for this
season, it is the equivalent of last year’s medium, which means that
effectively the nomination (together with the medium and the soft) is
similar to last year. The British Grand Prix ends the first-ever
triple-header in Formula 1 history, but the Pirelli team will stay on
afterwards for a tyre development test aimed at 2019.
THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW
-Silverstone is one of the most demanding circuits of the year when it comes
to tyres, mainly because of the series of long and fast corners that puts
plenty of energy through them.
- The track has been completely resurfaced this year, resulting in faster
asphalt with high grip but low degradation. Consequently tyres with a tread
depth reduced by 0.4 mm will be used for the final time this season to
reduce overheating (as was the case in Spain and France).
- Despite the softest tyre selection made to date at Silverstone last year,
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton still won the race using a one-stop strategy.
- British weather is famous for its unpredictability: anything can happen
during the weekend.
- The track is quite heavily used during the year, so it tends to rubber in
reasonably quickly. |
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MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR
RACING
“Silverstone is always a big challenge for tyres, thanks to lateral loads
that can amount to 5g or more. Because of this, we have decided to give the
hard tyre its debut at Silverstone, to come with some of the most
significant demands of the season. Nonetheless, with the whole of the range
going one step softer this year, this is effectively the equivalent of last
year’s nomination. The new asphalt results in faster lap times, as we’ve
already seen through data collected from our GT racing programme, putting
more energy through the tyres. This is why we have not gone any softer than
last year. But that’s without taking into account the notorious
changeability of the British weather, which could give us bright sunshine or
heavy rain, so teams will have to be ready for anything”.
WHAT’S NEW?
- The asphalt, which was completely replaced at the start of this year.
- Pirelli’ 2019 development programme will continue after the British Grand
Prix, with Red Bull, Haas and Williams testing slick tyres on Tuesday and
Wednesday.
- Most teams have made their choices strongly in favour of the soft tyre for
Silverstone, with quite a wide variation among the medium and hard
selections. |
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