Big Wheels Turning: Lotus F1 Team Tests Pirelli Tires with 18-Inch Rims

Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

Formula 1 has long been a sport where technological evolutions have shaped the on-track product. In 1950, the champion-winning vehicle was an Alfa Romeo roadster powered by a supercharged straight-eight engine paired with a four-speed transmission. In 2014, the Formula 1 field is full of carbon fiber-laden machines powered through turbocharged V-6 engines with advanced, electrified powertrains. One thing that bridges 64 years of history is that the vehicles from both eras ride on Pirelli tires. Though advances in tire construction has made today's rubber radically different than the ones found on earlier grand prix cars. This past Wednesday at a multi-team test at the Silverstone Circuit, Pirelli has contributed a concept that could be used to define future Formula 1 cars.

With the Lotus F1 Team's E22 race car serving as the test bed, Pirelli has revealed a wheel/tire combination that could be spinning on the world's most premier open wheel vehicles. Featuring an18-inch wheel within P Zero racing slicks, the so-called Pirelli new concept tire rounded the Silverstone race track for 14 laps. The wheel diameter of the Pirelli's new concept tire is five inches larger than the series' current 13-inch rim. The Pirelli P Zero tire developed for the 18-inch wheel is slightly larger and possesses a stiffer structural sidewall.

Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

Wednesday's tire test of the new concept Pirelli tire placed no emphasis on studying lap times. Without a lap time comparison to the current specification wheel/tire, it is worth noting there is one less than desirable attribute with the new concept tire that could affect speed negatively. Due to the larger wheel, the Pirelli new concept tire weighed four kilograms more than the current Formula 1 tire. The increase in unsprung weight on may prove unpopular in the quest for faster lap times.

The main reason for this exploration into tires centered with larger wheels appears more for style than it is for functionality. Pirelli's new concept tire is also considered as obtaining closer parity with the tires they develop for passenger cars. As a matter of fact, there are fewer production cars on the market running 13-inch wheels. The new wheel/tire was the highlight of a test where Formula 1 organizations such as the Lotus F1 Team, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing performed runs with tire compounds being assessed for the 2015 season.

Any potential adaptation to a new wheel, such as the one demonstrated new concept tire, seems unlikely for 2015 but could possibly become part of Formula 1 as early as the 2016 season.



Below is a comparison of wheel sizes used by various leading forms of auto racing:

 

2014 Wheel Sizes in Major Auto Racing
Series	Wheel Diameter (Inches)
Formula 1 (Current Spec)	13
IndyCar Series	15
NASCAR	15
WEC LMP1 (Porsche 919 Hybrid)	18
Formula D (Ford Mustang RTR)	18

 

Rosberg Wins Bizarre British Grand Prix

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

For the eighth time in 2013, 22 Formula 1 cars lined up to start a grand prix event. This time, attention turned on the popular Silverstone Circuit as the British Grand Prix would act as the stage for the world's greatest open wheel drivers. In addition to the Italian Grand Prix, the British Grand Prix has been a mainstay on the Formula 1 calendar every year since the inception of the World Championship in 1950. The 2013 edition of the grand prix would be another stand-out race at Silverstone. We have a deputed winner, a World Championship leader in trouble and a tire fiasco.

At the start, the Mercedes AMG car of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg started on the front row. On the start, it was Hamilton who used has pole-sitting grid position to take an early lead. In the second row on the starting gird, the Red Bull Racing drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were itching to break the Mercedes-Benz brigade but could not find an advantage early.

The tone of the 2013 British Grand Prix would be dominated by the unexpected failure of tires supplied by Pirelli. On lap 8, the first victim would emerge as the race leader. Lewis Hamilton's left rear slick tire had begun to disintegrate on his Mercedes race car. Able to drive his crippled car to the stops on three tires, Hamilton would drop to last in the running order. Two laps later, Felipe Massa would also suffer a similar tire issue. After three tire failures by lap 16, a safety car needed to be deployed so track crews could clean a debris littered on the Silverstone Circuit attributed to the decaying rubber. Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne and Sergio Perez were all burdened by effects of a left-rear tire problem over the course of the 52-lap race. Hamilton and Massa survived their incidents to collect top-10 finishes. On the other hand, Perez and Vergne suffered early retirements from the grand prix due to their blown Pirelli tires.

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

When the race progressed after the safety car, the Red Bull-Renault of Sebastian Vettel had once again found his way to the front of a grand prix race. Having won the 2009 British Grand Prix, that victory dates back to before Vettel was ever a Formula 1 champion. In pursuit of his fourth-straight driver's title, the German was looking forward to another major points day to add to what is an impressive lead already in 2013.
Unfortunately for Sebastian Vettel on the 41st lap of the 2013 British Grand Prix, his Red Bull-Renault would suddenly stop just as the German drove past the pit entrance. For the second time in the race, a safety car needed to be called as Vettel's powerless Red Bull-Renault was in a position where it could obstruct the event.

When the final safety car period ended, Nico Rosberg found himself inheriting the lead. Behind Rosberg, the second Red Bull-Renault in the hands of two-time British Grand Prix winner Mark Webber charged furiously towards the Mercedes Formula 1 car but simply came up short. At the line of 0.7 seconds, Nico Rosberg took his third Formula 1 victory. “This is a great moment for me and our team to win in the home of motor racing at Silverstone”, said Rosberg  in post-race comment. Webber came a close second while the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso completed a quiet march from a ninth-place start to finish on the podium. Alonso's third-place finish was only a 0.6-second advantage over a resurgent Lewis Hamilton.  




Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

Unfortunately for Nico Rosberg and the Mercedes AMG team, both victories this season have been tainted by protests and accusations of the team not playing by the rules. As the Monaco Grand Prix race win left competing teams alleging Mercedes AMG team unfairly benefitted from a Pirelli tire test, the post-race buzz around Silverstone had to do with a possible penalty due to a race infraction. When a local yellow flag is displayed at one corner of the race track, it was deemed Rosberg did not sufficiently slow down. While the race stewards did the discretion to levy a time penalty on Rosberg's car deleting it from even a podium position, the outcome of the incident was left with a reprimand allowing the German to keep his victory.

While the Pirelli tire issue and a potential penalty threatened to mar the race victory, Nico Rosberg relished his third Formula 1 victory (his second in three races). Rosberg's win driving a factory-based Mercedes-Benz race car is the first such accomplishment since Sir Sterling Moss won the British Grand Prix at Aintree with the Silver Arrows back in 1955.

While the German Mercedes team celebrated, the British Grand Prix was not kind to national teams. McLaren and Williams had both been accustomed to victory at Silverstone on multiple occasions in the past. For 2013, neither Formula 1 organization was successful in even placing a car within the top-10. For the Williams F1 Team, a nine-time constructors' champion, they are still without points in the 2013 championship. It has been since the 2012 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas when the Williams organization cars last scored in points-paying positions.

Following the race, the tire supplier to the Formula 1 series has been put under scrutiny. Paul Hembery, Pirelli's motorsport director, offered a statement following the grand prix stating, "There have obviously been some issues with rear-left tyre failures which we have not seen before. We are taking the situation very seriously and we are currently investigating all tyres to determine the cause as soon as possible, ahead of the next Grand Prix in Germany." The tire construction, compound and even the Formula 1 teams themselves have been the target for the investigation that quickly needs to bare results. Racing at the Nurburgring just one week after the British Grand Prix, the situation is tense for teams and drivers.

The last race for the 2013 Formula 1 series is a trip to Germany's famed Nurburgring. A race set for July 7th, Fernando Alonso is the defending German Grand Prix winner.   


2013 British Grand Prix
Formula 1
Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull	Renault
3	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Ferrari
4	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
5	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	Renault
6	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Ferrari
7	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
8	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
10	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	Ferrari
11	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams F1	Renault
12	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Renault
13	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
14	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	Ferrari
15	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	Renault
16	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	Cosworth
17	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	Cosworth
18	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	Renault
19	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Renault
20	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
21	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	Renault
22	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
22	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	Mercedes-Benz