Tire strategy was at the forefront of the action at the
Monaco Grand Prix, with a three-way fight between
Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, who
were separated by less than a second with only 15 laps
to go. Such was the pace of the leading trio that they
pulled away from the fourth-placed driver by nearly a
minute.
The top three all employed completely different race
strategies: Vettel stopped once, moving from Pirelli’s P
Zero Red supersofts to the P Zero Yellow softs on lap 16
and making his final set of soft tires last for 56 laps.
Alonso chose a two-stop strategy, starting on the
supersoft before moving onto two sets of soft tires,
with his last stop on lap 34.
Button, meanwhile, went for a sprint strategy by taking
three stops. While there was a wide diversity of
strategies, the top three remained in close contact at a
race where Pirelli’s supersoft was making its
competition debut.
As the race entered its final 10 laps, the leading trio
was still close in a fight for supremacy before a crash
caused a safety car period followed by a red flag with
just six laps left to go. As the rules allow teams to
work on the cars during a suspended race, the drivers
were allowed to change tires before the race resumed in
a final sprint to the finish.
The top three all chose Pirelli’s P Zero Red supersoft
tires for the run to the flag, which ended with Vettel’s
first win in Monaco. It was Pirelli’s first victory in
Monaco since the 1957 race, which was won by Juan Manuel
Fangio in a Maserati.
“We were privileged to see one of the closest ever
battles for victory in Monaco: the most prestigious race
of the year,” says motorsports director Paul Hembery.
“The top three used completely different tire strategies
but came out more or less together, which is exactly
what we were aiming for at the start of the year. It’s
great to see the tire strategy forming such a prominent
part of the action; giving us a fascinating battle for
the lead where any of the top three drivers would have
been very deserving winners. Had it not been for the red
flag in the closing stages, I’m sure that their fight
would have continued all the way to the very end,” he
adds.
“With the fastest-ever qualifying lap of Monaco,”
Hembery recounts, “and some drivers going for more than
50 laps on the P Zero Yellow, Pirelli has supplied both
performance and adaptability with this year’s Formula
One tires.”
Pirelli’s supersoft compound tires had a successful
debut during the third round of the GP2 Series during
the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
PAGE 2
Pirelli decided to equip the GP2 drivers with its
softest compound because of the specific layout of the
unique street circuit, which is tight and twisty. The
lap is typified by low speed and grip levels combined
with a smooth and slippery surface.
Though the sizes are the same, the compound and
structure of the GP2 supersoft tires are different to
the P Zero Red supersoft tires used in Formula One and
this mainly because the series regulations do not permit
tire blankets, unlike Formula One. For this reason,
Pirelli has developed for the GP2 Series a very specific
tire compound that is able to rapidly reach its ideal
operating temperature.
“We are very satisfied with the performance of our P
Zero supersoft rubber, which has proved to be a very
consistent tire that contributed to some great on-track
action in Monaco,” explains racing manager Mario Isola.
“Before coming here, the GP2 drivers did not have a
chance to try out our very softest compound – not even
during the pre-season tests. In spite of this, they
adapted themselves very quickly to this new challenge
while both the performance and durability of this tire
was exactly in line with what we expected.”
The P Zero tires enjoyed a special welcome in the
principality with Monaco’s Prince Albert autographing a
GP2 show tire, which was also signed by local hero
Stefano Coletti; the tire will be donated to charity
together with the driver’s racing suit, which is a
special one-off design for the Monaco event.
For more information, visit www.us.pirelli.com.
