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WHY WE’VE CHOSEN THE TYRES
* At Monza, the ‘temple of speed’, the same compound selection has been made
as last year: C2 as the P Zero White hard, C3 as the P Zero Yellow medium,
and C4 as the P Zero Red soft. These are the tyres that sit right in the
middle of Pirelli’s F1 range, covering a wide spectrum of conditions.
* This choice has been made to suit the varied characteristics of Monza. As
well as its famous flat-out straights, there are some slower and more
technical sections that have been added to the iconic Italian track over the
years to try to contain average speeds.
* Like Belgium, Monza is another race whose original 2020 date hasn’t been
moved – and past experience has shown that it can be extremely hot at this
time of year, towards the end of the Italian summer.. |
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TRACK CHARACTERISTICS
* Monza is one of the classic venues on the Formula 1 calendar, where top
speeds close to 360kph are seen thanks to teams running minimal downforce to
avoid drag down the straights. The trade-off is that there’s less
aerodynamic grip through the corners, meaning that the cars then have to
rely more on mechanical grip from the tyres. With less downforce pushing
down on them, the tyres are more susceptible to sliding – which increases
wear.
* If the weather isn't warm, another effect of the long and fast straights
at Monza is to cool the tyres down – meaning that they might not be
completely up to temperature for the following corners.
* Last year’s race was won with a one-stop strategy as Charles Leclerc
sealed a popular home victory for Ferrari. Leclerc, who started from pole,
was the only driver to choose a soft-hard strategy: the other one-stoppers
all went for a soft-medium plan.
* Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who stopped twice, finished less than a
second behind Leclerc – so a variety of strategies is clearly possible at
the Italian race.
* The overall lap record of 1m19.119s was set by Kimi Raikkonen in
qualifying with Ferrari two years ago.
* However, the fastest race lap at Monza still dates back to 2004, courtesy
of Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello. Could this be the season when that
16-year-old benchmark finally gets broken? |
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MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR
RACING
“For the first time in history, we embark on two consecutive Formula 1
weekends in Italy: each with different tyre nominations too. Unlike Mugello,
Monza is very much a known quantity, with the teams having plenty of
relevant data from these same compounds that were also used last year.
However, the cars are now a lot faster and the weather could also be a
question mark: it’s often warm and dry but there’s been rain in recent years
too. Both a one-stopper and a two-stopper can work, but unlike last year,
the drivers now have a fixed tyre allocation that has a direct effect on the
strategy by influencing which compounds they ultimately have available for
the race. However, this allocation has been designed to give the drivers the
maximum possible opportunities, so that they can target the tyres that they
want to have on race day.”
OTHER PIRELLI NEWS
* The World Rally Championship finally resumes during the same weekend as
the Italian Grand Prix, with the series visiting Estonia for the first time.
From next year onwards, Pirelli becomes the sole supplier to the
championship. Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen is conducting a private test
campaign for Pirelli in a Citroen C3 WRC.
* The GT World Challenge, exclusively supplied by Pirelli, is at the
Nürburgring in Germany this weekend for a six-hour race that makes up round
three: another competition where tyre strategy is key.
* Once more, Monza hosts Formula 2 and Formula 3 – as has been the case at
every grand prix so far this year.
* As well as making tyres for the fastest cars in the world, Pirelli also
makes tyres for those that are less fast: the Italian firm has recently
re-issued tyres for the classic Fiat 500 as part of the Pirelli Collezione. |
