Pirelli to Tweak 2011 Tires Based on New Regulations

New Formula One tire supplier Pirelli concluded a successful test in Abu Dhabi over last weekend, after debuting their 2011 compound on real 2010-spec F1 challengers. And while the initial data on the new tires was mostly positive, the company's tire research and development director Maurizio Boiocchi admitted there are some tweaks that have to be made to the compound in the months to come.

Until testing the tires on the 2010-spec cars, Pirelli had used mostly computer and simulator information to develop the compound, while also running it on the 2009-spec Toyota TF109. What this weekend test revealed was that there was a positive correlation between the pre and post Abu Dhabi data, which made Boiocchi optimistic about the future.

“Everything that we did with the simulations and computer models was really helpful and based on that, and the work with the Toyota, we developed the solutions that we used during the test. The correlation between the Toyota TF109 that we tested with and what happened in Abu Dhabi is impressive. It was very close, very tight,” said the Pirelli official, according to Autosport.

However, the tweaks to be operated by Pirelli in the weeks/months to come will focus on the new set of technical regulations for the 2011 season of Formula One, which will witness the return of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) – that alone will change the weight distribution level of an F1 racer – and the return of a single rear diffuser (double diffusers will be banned).

“We are designing the tires for the 2011 cars, for which the rules will be changed and there will be different downforce characteristics with the single diffuser at the back of the car. There are a lot of differences and we are developing the tires according to the future needs,” he added, while arguing that the test in Abu Dhabi was focused solely on correlating the data Pirelli had with the one gathered from a maiden test with the teams.