Pirelli shares that its tyres have gained a total of 78 original equipment homologations for the latest versions of the BMW 8 Series Coupe, Gran Coupe, and Cabrio, including M Sport models. These cars ride on bespoke Pirelli P Zero and Cinturato P7 tyres. Depending on model, Pirelli will supply BMW with 18- to 20-inch fitments.
The UK’s premier GT racing series concludes with a three-hour race at the home of British motorsport this weekend. With all four class titles up for grabs, and a full grid of 38 cars, tyre supplier Pirelli will play a crucial role. Pirelli will supply the P Zero DHE to GT3 and the P Zero DHB to GT4, as well as the Cinturato WH for wet weather. In the GTC class, the Porsches will use DHD2 on the front with DHE on the rear, and the Ferrari 488 Challenge will use bespoke fitment DH tyres for this car. Jonathan Wells, Pirelli UK motorsport manager, said that Silverstone would provide a good test for tyres, as “the most aggressive circuit on this year’s calendar, with extreme levels of lateral demand on the tyres and high top-speeds.”
For motorists in many countries on mainland Europe, changing your tyres for winter conditions used to be a matter of routine. At one time, as winter approached, the summer tyres were put into storage and the set of winter tyres was fitted. But recently, more and more cars are being shod with all-season tyres that – as the name suggests – work well all year round. In this article, Pirelli explains the difference between winter and all-season rubber and why it is important to choose the right tyre.
Pirelli supplied its new range of GT tyres to the 2020 Spa 24 Hours, the manufacturer’s “biggest event of the year.” In total Pirelli took 13,000 tyres to the Belgian circuit in a fleet of 34 trucks, with more than 65 tyre fitters working round the clock, underlining the tyre manufacturer’s long-standing commitment to GT racing. The rescheduled event produced a thrilling competition, with multiple changes of weather and lead. The winner was only decided in the closing minutes.
Two one-hour sprint races at Snetterton make up the penultimate round of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship, following the Donington endurance test last time around. Exclusive tyre supplier Pirelli will supply its DHE and DHB tyres to competitors on the challenging 300 layout of the Snetterton circuit. With tight and twisty sections and heavy braking, the demands on tyres could make strategy a crucial factor in determining the weekend’s winner.
Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli said that tyre strategy had been “integral” to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s victory in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. Starting from fourth on the grid, Verstappen was the only one of the top 10 to start on the hard tyre. He used their comparative durability to run a longer first stint, which allowed him to move into the lead and then defend his advantage. The P Zero White hard (C2) tyre was softer than the hardest designated tyre at the previous weekend’s British Grand Prix, won by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. While the Mercedes team was tougher on the tyres than most, with blistering a known issue, Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were able to claim the second and third steps on the podium, with Hamilton using the P Zero White to set the fastest lap in the race to claim an extra championship point.
Formula 1’s exclusive tyre supplier Pirelli has concluded its initial analysis on a number of tyres run at the British Grand Prix. The tyre supplier said it has identified the cause of the tyre failures on both Mercedes and the McLaren of Carlos Sainz in Sunday’s race. A combination of the long stints the P Zero White (C1) was forced to complete and the “biggest forces” on F1 tyres ever meant the tyres were “placed under maximum stress” for a long period. The resultant wear on the tyres meant that the tyres were less protected from the extreme forces by the end of the race. While Pirelli plans to continue with its plan to supply softer compounds at the second Silverstone meeting, it said it would review the usage prescription for its F1 tyres, increasing the minimum tyre pressures to reduce structural stress.
Lewis Hamilton’s seventh win at Silverstone’s British Grand Prix came in dramatic circumstances after a last-lap tyre failure. The Mercedes driver was able to limp home with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull bearing down on him in a denouement filled with more tension than the rest of the race combined. Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas had suffered a tyre failure with two laps to go, preventing a predictable and regulation 1-2 finish for the team, and leaving the Finn without a point despite his team’s domination of the weekend. Tyre supplier Pirelli is conducting a full examination on what led to the tyres’ failure – McLaren’s Carlos Sainz also experienced final lap tyre issues. Initial assessments point to the lengthy stints completed on the P Zero White (C1 compound) tyre, and debris on the track after two early crashes. Tyre strategy was largely dictated by the second crash on lap 12, as many drivers opted to change early to the harder tyre during the safety car period begun.
Pirelli has launched the tubeless P Zero Race TLR and P Zero Race TLR SL flagship tyres for high-performance cycling. The brand returned to cycling in June 2017, reflecting a recent trend for global tyre brands producing new tyres for pedal-powered two-wheelers following global growth in cycling. Three years after the launch of the P Zero Velo clincher, Pirelli says the new tubeless-ready road tyres complete its cycling tyre range.
Pirelli will supply Formula 1 with two different tyre specifications in the Formula 1 Silverstone double-header. The British Grand Prix this weekend, which is the second event of the year to be sponsored by Pirelli, will have the C1 compound as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow medium, and C3 as P Zero Red soft. The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix one week later will be one-step softer: so C2 as the hard, C3 as the medium and C4 as the soft. This creates Formula 1 history: the first time ever that there has been two different tyre nominations for a double-header at the same venue.
The 2020 British GT Championship will kick off at Oulton Park, Cheshire this weekend. 21 cars across two classes will run on new Pirelli P Zero tyres, the DHE and DHB in the GT3 and GT4 classes respectively. Jonathan Wells, Pirelli UK motorsport manager, said the manufacturer is “looking forward to finally seeing the new DHE tyre in action, after a long delay to the season start.”
It was a glaring omission from an illustrious who’s who of the tyre world – the Pirelli P Zero was nowhere to be seen amongst the list of finalists for the Auto Bild summer 2020 tyre test. Its combined result in the preliminary round’s wet and dry braking tests only sufficed for 25th place from 50 tyres, a result that Auto Bild called “disappointing”. Pirelli isn’t leaving this stain on the P Zero’s reputation unanswered.
Pirelli has presented the tyre that will equip the new Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo from the 2020 season onwards in all four Ferrari Challenge championships. The tyre is the Pirelli P Zero DHA, the product of some seven months of close collaboration between Pirelli and Ferrari engineers. The P Zero DHA is available in size 275/675-19 at the front and 315/705-19 at the rear.
BMW Group has approved the Pirelli P Zero as an original equipment tyre for the BMW M8. The Pirelli tyre has been homologated for the M8 in size 275/35 ZR 20 (102Y) XL (front axle) and 285/35 ZR 20 (104Y) XL (rear axle).
Pirelli may be synonymous with traditional ideas of high performance, but in 2019 the tyre manufacturer is increasingly adapting what this segment of the market can mean. Earlier in 2019, Pirelli reported that tyres made according to the company’s Green Performance strategy had risen from 20 per cent a decade ago to 29.8 per cent in 2018 – not only that, but Green Performance tyres accounted for 57.5 per cent of Pirelli’s High Value product sales. Now the manufacturer is embracing another “electrifying” direction in which to develop its high performance tyres in 2019.
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