Pirelli bringing PZero White and Yellow to Nürburgring
Formula One visits the Nürburgring this weekend for the German Grand Prix, and Pirelli has selected its soft and medium compounds to take on the technical GP track, which has a strong mix of speeds and corners. The track features a number of heavy braking areas, while the tyres are also put to the test by several impacts with the kerbing that is a feature of the track. Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery says: “The Nurburgring is one of the most technical circuits we face all year, with a lot of lateral energy going through the tyres, and this makes strategy very important.”
“Although they sit next to each other in our range, there is still a significant difference between the P Zero Yellow soft and the P Zero White medium tyre, as we saw on the last occasion that this combination was used at the Grand Prix of Europe in Valencia. The biggest difference will be the weather, which could be a lot cooler than the conditions we saw in Spain. This means that we expect most of the teams to adopt a two-stop strategy, unless of course it rains, in which case anything is possible. On Friday, the teams will be evaluating a new version of the P Zero Yellow soft tyre. It’s not a big change from the current specification, but it is designed to fit in line with our latest versions of the P Zero Silver hard tyre and P Zero White medium, both of which are a little harder than their original specification in order to reduce degradation. There’s no decision yet on when we might use the new tyre yet, but it will be very interesting to hear all the feedback from the teams.”
With six German drivers on the grid this year, the country is better represented than any other nationality, making Germany’s round of the Formula One World Championship extremely popular with the fans. However, none of the teams have particularly recent data for the Nurburgring, as the circuit takes turns with Hockenheim to host the German Grand Prix.
Although the Nurburgring has not often been declared a wet race, the last one being in 2007, the weather in the Eifel region is notoriously changeable due to the mountainous nature of the terrain. This means that it can be dry on one part of the circuit but very wet at another: just as was the case at the beginning of the British Grand Prix two weeks ago in Silverstone. On that occasion the P Zero Blue intermediate tyres impressed with their consistent and durable performance in a wide range of conditions, and they could feature once again in Germany, along with the P Zero Orange wets.
During Friday’s free practice sessions, the teams will have the chance to try out a new version of the P Zero Yellow soft tyre, which is being evaluated for use in the future. This new version of the tyre features increased durability and less degradation.
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