A late downpour induced the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix dash race to be delayed. The sphere was then led by the security automobile for 5 formation laps forward of a rolling begin.
The security automobile prepare helped clear standing water to chop spray and assist visibility, however all vehicles pitted inside two laps to suit intermediate tyres because the moist climate crossover had arrived.
As such, drivers reckoned the blue-walled full-wet building now solely served a goal as ‘security automobile tyres’, with Mercedes’ George Russell calling them out as “pretty pointless”.
Pirelli head of motorsport Mario Isola surprisingly sided with the drivers, as long as the FIA’s erring on the aspect of warning throughout restricted visibility meant the circumstances for which full wets had been designed would all the time be run behind the security automobile.
He stated: “I consider that we now have to, to start with, divide two issues: one is the efficiency of the moist, one is the visibility [amid driver complaints].
“Efficiency-wise, after we had been creating the tyres, we discovered a outcome when it comes to efficiency that was a lot, significantly better [five seconds per lap] than the {old} moist tyre.
“It isn’t sufficient, perhaps, however we did a step… the warm-up was not a problem. The entire groups voted to introduce the brand new moist in the course of the season as a result of they’d the information from our check.
“Possibly this efficiency remains to be not sufficient to generate the fitting crossover with intermediates…”
He added: “Are they security automobile tyres? We focus on many instances about visibility. It is a matter and clearly, the FIA, along with the groups, are working round some gadgets [spray guards] that may enhance visibility with a view to cut back the spray that’s coming from the tyres and the diffuser.
Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-23,Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-23,Sergio Perez, Purple Bull Racing RB19
Photograph by: Erik Junius
“If the concept is to proceed to search for a tool that is ready to cut back the spray and subsequently give [drivers] the chance to run in full-wet circumstances, we now have to maintain the 2 merchandise [inters and full wets].
“But when the total moist tyre is used solely behind the security automobile, I agree with drivers that, in the meanwhile, it’s a ineffective tyre.
“So, we now have to determine which is the route we need to take for the longer term with a view to develop the product that’s wanted for Formulation 1.”
Isola has proposed the event of a ‘tremendous intermediate’ or ‘intermediate plus’ compound that may very well be launched someday in the course of the 2024 season as an answer.
This single building, the tread of which Pirelli designed a number of years in the past, can be used to span the crossover between when the FIA rule visibility is simply too restricted and dry tyres.
As a by-product of a single catch-all compound, it might assist Pirelli cut back its cargo to enhance sustainability – a problem that motivated the current Various Tyre Allocation qualifying experiment in Hungary and the suspended ban on using tyre blankets.