The 2024 Method 1 season delivered its ultimate verdicts within the championship’s concluding act, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the 5.281-kilometre Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, however there are nonetheless many extremely attention-grabbing insights to be drawn from the vehicles that characterised this championship, beginning with the truth that their performances exceeded expectations.
This theme was highlighted by the qualifying occasions at a number of the ultimate races of the 2024 Method 1 marketing campaign, the place, due to sure components, a larger-than-expected leap ahead in lap occasions was noticed, shocking not solely the groups but in addition Pirelli.
Talking through the 12 months’s ultimate race weekend, the Italian producer defined how the speeds and enhancements achieved by the 2024 vehicles, each in lap occasions and cargo peaks, turned out to be increased than the simulations had predicted.
Yearly, Pirelli receives efficiency and improvement simulations from the groups for the upcoming season to ascertain a reference for the potential masses on the tires. Along with its inside simulations, the producer makes use of group knowledge for comparability, together with long-distance simulations and extra detailed experiences shared simply weeks earlier than a Grand Prix.
It’s from evaluating the anticipated knowledge in these simulations with the occasions and cargo peaks recorded on observe that notably attention-grabbing insights emerged. “Within the final races, we witnessed a greater-than-expected efficiency improve and noticed very excessive masses, particularly from two or three groups,” defined Simone Berra, Pirelli’s chief engineer, who intently analyzes this knowledge to grasp the load ranges appearing on every tire through the Grands Prix.
“From the simulations, we often have one for the top of the season and one for mid-year, and nobody anticipated we’d see this degree of load. These load ranges are virtually past expectations.”
Even in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the step ahead was evident, with an enchancment of just about a second in comparison with the pole place time in 2023. This hole turns into much more pronounced when evaluating Lando Norris‘s 2024 pole time to the place McLaren was 12 months earlier, exceeding a full second. Observing the record of enhancements all through the season clearly highlights the developments, notably on sure tracks.
By late November, Pirelli had already acquired simulations for the following season, that are at the moment underneath analysis and evaluation. For the 2025 Method 1 vehicles, nonetheless, the Italian producer has already taken steps in current months in an effort to handle additional will increase in load, modifying tire building to raised reply to the anticipated load values from the groups, which is able to undoubtedly proceed to rise.
Because of this, it’s not anticipated that building will must be modified mid-season because it was in 2023, a really specific case the place Pirelli nonetheless reacted rapidly. “We don’t need to change the development through the season as a result of we imagine it’s not proper. We offer a specification, and this could stay the identical for the remainder of the season,” Simone Berra defined.
“For Silverstone final 12 months, the explanation was that the rise in stress on the tire was fairly vital, and we proposed this variation to enhance tire integrity. However we don’t count on to come across an identical scenario subsequent 12 months [in 2025], as the brand new construction has improved resistance to tire stress.”
Within the case of unexpected points and masses even increased than anticipated, one choice could possibly be to reply by growing tire pressures, a side that might successfully be evaluated on a race-by-race foundation relying on the circumstances. Nonetheless, Pirelli would like to not improve pressures an excessive amount of, as this might have uncomfortable side effects.
“We might react by adjusting the stress, however we would like to not increase it an excessive amount of, and I feel the groups agree. It’s because growing stress can result in overheating and graining. So, we need to maintain stress as little as doable,” added Simone Berra. It also needs to be famous that the brand new 2025 compounds have been designed and developed particularly to cut back graining, which in some circumstances this 12 months was barely above expectations.
Looking forward to the 2025 Method 1 championship, there is a vital consideration: the event curve of the groups won’t comply with the identical trajectory seen this 12 months. That is partly as a result of the technical cycle is nearing its finish and partly as a result of the 2026 Method 1 season will carry a significant technical revolution. Many groups are already working to find out the perfect window to shift focus from the 2025 vehicles to the brand new technical laws. Because of this, not like 2024, when groups launched vital aerodynamic updates even till the ultimate Grands Prix, improvement in 2025 could possibly be extra restrained.
— see video above —
Purchase official Ferrari F1 merchandise!
Let different Scuderia Followers find out about us
