F1: 2017 Pirelli Tyres in Action

[Chris]

In recent days, Ferrari have been able to test the 2017 Pirelli tyres which boast a much wider contact patch to allow for more grip and faster lap times.

The 2017 Formula One regulations are looking to yet again shake up the sport with greater levels of downforce and mechanical grip in a bid to make the cars up to "five seconds per lap faster", according to Strategy Group members. Thanks to these two aspects, expect the cars next season to be slower in a straight line thanks to greater aerodynamic drag (via bodywork and larger tyres), but significantly faster in both high and low speed corners.

Most notably from the footage above, the new, wider wet weather tyre looks to have resulted in a massive gain in wet weather grip in comparison to the current spec tyres. Whilst in most cases it can be difficult to judge whether this is true or not, it's fairly clear that the car has a visibly greater amount of grip and speed thanks to the larger contact patch.

Thankfully, Pirelli have stated that next seasons tyres will not degrade as quickly as the tyres seen this season and in previous seasons thanks in large part to a much larger operating window for optimal temperatures. This means that drivers will be able to push flat out for entire stints without having to worry about killing the tyres by overheating them, as is currently the biggest issue with them.

As can be seen from the image above, the Ferrari team have tried to simulate the increase in downforce with a wider and lower rear wing, along with increased ground effect via side skirts along the floor.

Whilst the cars may be more visually and numerically spectacular, questions have been raised by drivers and teams that placing greater dependence on aerodynamics will in fact make the racing even more processional as the cars will be even more dependent on running in clean air. Recently however, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have stated that they think the racing next season will be closer as the cars won't suffer [in dirty air] as much as people are speculating. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Are you excited for these new regulations in the coming Formula One season? Do you think the cars will actually end up being five seconds per lap quicker, or was that just positive spin? Let us know!

Video footage credit of 19Bozzy92
Image credit of F1Fanatic.co.uk​

 

[Blimey]

wider tyres make the cars look more appealing, but testing 2017 tyres on a 2015 car is meh..

 

[shardshunt]

faster cars doesn't make better racing i don't see why f1 cares so much about it. they seem to be too willing to sacrifice entertaining racing in favor of speed.
I say fix the areo-push even if it costs some overall speed then think about making cars faster.

 

[Youssef Karam]

Gotta love a wider car

 

[fortyfivekev]

Wider cars look better, who'd have thunk it

While more mechanical grip is great it would have been better to greatly reduce aero at the same time but I suppose the top teams have invested a lot of money in their aero departments so it isn't really going to happen.

Hopefully the new tyres will allow more on the limit racing and not just driving to a delta as is the case now.

 

[Andrew Harper]

Yep, looks much better already!

I think the key comment for me is Pirelli's hope that the new tyres will allow drivers to push more without worrying about destroying them, If that's the case then at least the drivers can hopefully race more as well.

I think they are going in the right direction with the new regs but as mentioned above maybe a little more focus on increasing mechanical and a slight reduction on aero would have been better but fingers crossed that these ideas work for '17

 

[Kevin Bradley]

Maybe alonso and button are right and the new regs will produce closer racing. The wider tyres will yield higher grip levels and 'ground effect' style side skirts on the cars might help reduce the negative effect of running in another car's dirty air.
Hell, with a bit of luck we might even get more non-DRS passing

 

[Chris]

The wider tyres will yield higher grip levels and 'ground effect' style side skirts on the cars might help reduce the negative effect of running in another car's dirty air.

Unfortunately those side skirts were only placed on the car in order to simulate the level of expected downforce for 2017, so the 2017 cars won't actually have these elements as they'll likely produce even more downforce than this demo run with the modified SF15-T.

I'm going to be the optimist and say that the racing will be better next season thanks to the better tyres mostly.

 

[Kevin Bradley]

Unfortunately those side skirts were only placed on the car in order to simulate the level of expected downforce for 2017

That's a shame, for a minute I got excited that we might have some real revolutionary changes in aero design on the 2017 cars!

Oh well, hopefully at least the new tyres will have a positive effect as you say

 

[Dennis Phelan]

Wider tires, less track to run on. How is Nico going to pass anyone?

 

[Qazdar Karim]

Wider tyres are not fast everywhere

There are situations in which they are slower than narrower ones, and i think it's safe to say that the wider the tyre the less camber you can run on it

 

[samcar304]

When people say F1 is the testing ground for new technologies that will be implemented into road cars, i think it would make much more sense them doing that with LMP1 cars... Almost as fast as F1 cars and they run much longer at a time. I think it would make much more sense doing it that way...

And if i had my way i would make F1 a spec series. One engine and one chassis, then let the teams design their own Aero kits like what Indycar are doing. (However at the moment there is a bit too much downforce on an Indycar i think) Put a limit on downforce so its less of a factor since the front wings are so complicated it actually makes it hard for Cars to follow each other, And give them tires they can push to the limit and they wont fall off... and Bring back refueling.

But i don't think that would be F1 Anymore... Guess i'll just have to keep dreaming

 

[Andrew Harper]

When people say F1 is the testing ground for new technologies that will be implemented into road cars, i think it would make much more sense them doing that with LMP1 cars... Almost as fast as F1 cars and they run much longer at a time. I think it would make much more sense doing it that way...

And if i had my way i would make F1 a spec series. One engine and one chassis, then let the teams design their own Aero kits like what Indycar are doing. (However at the moment there is a bit too much downforce on an Indycar i think) Put a limit on downforce so its less of a factor since the front wings are so complicated it actually makes it hard for Cars to follow each other, And give them tires they can push to the limit and they wont fall off... and Bring back refueling.

But i don't think that would be F1 Anymore... Guess i'll just have to keep dreaming

I've been watching F1 since about '91 so I've seen a few dramatic changes to the cars in my time.

One thing I've learnt is that F1 is a more of a business now and less of a motorsport. It's a giant marketing tool for whichever manufacturer is involved. That's why engines like the hybrids came into F1 in the first place, partly due to the FIA but also because of pressure from the car manufacturers who wanted to showcase their tech in an F1 car.

The idea of spec parts has been rumbling on for years and yes I agree with you that items like that hopefully make the racing slightly closer but also more cost effective for the smaller teams over the course of the year. However, knowing how devious F1 teams are they will try every trick in the book (and spend millions doing so) trying to get round them. In the last ten years the FIA were constantly cutting downforce on the cars only for the aero teams to claw it back within six months. Would be the same on putting a limit on downforce, the designers claw it back on other parts of the car over a short period of time. The one regulation you could impose is maximum of two elements on the front wing, maximum of two elements at the rear and make the rear wing a single beam supported wing, therefore try to make the car use it's underbody downforce more than the wings.

I'm certainly in favour of the larger tyres and the "body" generated downforce as that will hopefully allow the cars to get closer to one another without relying on the wings too much. They just look nicer to me as well. Just get rid of the anteater noses!!

 

[TomcatMF]

I don't ever want F1 to be a spec series. IndyCar lost me when they went that route. Half the reason I like motorsports is to see what the teams have brought to the track. It's not all about passing on the track for me. I thoroughly enjoy the engineering aspects of the sport. In fact I wish they would remove the restrictions on many of the innovations that the teams have come up with over the last couple of decades.

 

[Qazdar Karim]

F1 has never been an exciting sport, let's be honest ... i'm talking about the era i witnessed in my life, not what some old dude told me! the most exciting seasons are around late 90s and 2005 - 2010, but it's not really something out of this world.

Ofcourse, there were a lot of seasons with interesting cars though, but it doesn't mean there was some exciting racing back then.

 

[Kevin Bradley]

Depends what you call exciting. What entertains one person doesn't always entertain the next. I've never been a fan of fishing for example but i wouldn't tell someone else they couldn't enjoy it. So okay, not every f1 race has been thrilling over the years, but I've certainly enjoyed watching more than the odd few.

Back on topic, i think anything to help improve the current situation with the tyre management is a good thing so i personally welcome next season's rule changes.

 

[snipedgames]

does anyone know if 3 dry tire compounds will be brought to the races next year like it is this year?

 

[TomcatMF]

There will be 3 dry compounds, but Pirelli will dictate the allocation for the first fly away races.

 

[paracletus]

Now this is f1, that fat profile is reminiscent of the 80s (sniff) .
Should be more challenging for them - the real elite drivers like alonso will now be given a chance to show their abilities, follow close lap after lap without the useless quick-wear tyres i.e. some proper racing.

 

[Kakusso]

Drivers lets race now! 2016 vs 2017. Saving them is no longer the major concern. lots of rubber to spare.