Pirelli: The Past, Present and Future In F1

© Pirelli.com

Many fans are aware that this is not Pirelli's first stint in Formula One. Their name is whispered amongst the spectators, spoken within the paddock and sprawled across many headlines in the media.

What most people consider the true starting point of Formula One is 1946, with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA's) standardization of the rules and regulations of the sport. Yet Pirelli had won it's first international race more then 100 years ago and it was only time before the Italian company would be introduced and integrated into one of the worlds most fascinating motorsports.

Pirelli had made their presence know within the sport by supplying the tyres for the inaugural Formula One World Championship in 1950 and was the most successful manufacturer until Dunlop surpassed their record of 45 victories in 1963.

In the 50's, Pirelli supplied the tyres to the big Italian teams; Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati. They won nearly every single race (minus one) within the first four years of the World Championship. When the press was notified late into 1956 that the successful Italian company was going to suspend its involvement, many thought it would only be for a limited time, not for 25 years.

"...after long and intense participation in motor and motorcycle racing, Pirelli has decided to stop production of racing tyres."

The Pirelli tyre was not going to make another appearance on the rims of the F1 cars again until 1981. The news came, Pirelli would be back on track and providing tyres to Toleman, Arrows and Fittipaldi. In 1984, the company, possibly without realizing, supplied the tyres to one of the sports greatest drivers, Ayrton Senna. At the time, Senna was a test driver for Toleman.

"an excellent test driver, who, despite his very young age, gives us a wealth of useful information about the behaviour of the car and the tyres"

Later on in the 1984 season, Bernie Ecclestone announced:

"...we have reached a three-year agreement with Pirelli, based on which the tyre manufacturer will work together with Brabham-BMW to develop and provide (as of the 1985 season) Formula 1 tyres. We have been following Pirelli's progress with interest throughout the 1983 and 1984 seasons, and we are certain that when combined with a competitive team Pirelli will achieve the same results that it has reached in all of the other racing categories in which it has participated."

Their return started off a little 'slow' until the company began supplying the tyres to Benetton and Brabham in 1985.  It almost seemed too little, too late and Pirelli withdrew from the sport at the end of 1986.

This time, Pirelli was only out of the sport for 3 years and returned in 1989 with Benetton and Pirelli together again.

Nelson Piquet had commented,

"The agreement continued to mature throughout the season. As we realized the advantages that the Pirelli tyres gave cars that would otherwise not have been competitive, especially on certain tracks, it made us drivers and the technical managers of the Benetton team really stop and think".

With the successful partnership in the previous year between Benetton and Pirelli, 1991 saw Pirelli supplying the teams of Brabham, Scuderia Italia and Tyrrell. Again, maybe without realizing, Pirelli had wheels on the car of another historical F1 driver, Benetton's second driver Michael Schumacher.

Pirelli remained in the sport until 1991. Nelson Piquest, triumphed at the Canadian Grand Prix and gained Pirelli's last victory in Formula One.

Until now....

With the Japanese tyre company, Bridgestone, announcing their retirement from F1, the FIA were holding bids for all tyre companies interested in Formula One. In June 2010, Pirelli was awarded the 3 year contract to be the sole tyre supplier for F1 (and GP2). 

"The global visibility guaranteed through extensive media interest in Formula One, together with dynamic plans to leverage Pirelli's involvement in an activity central to the company's core business, represents a unique opportunity for the brand to maximise its return on investment,"

 

With such a limited time for preparations and testing, many people started grumbling about this 'new' supplier and what it would mean to the sport. Many of them had forgotten about the illustrious past that Pirelli has had with Formula One and only saw what was being shown. 

As I have said in many previous articles, testing is just that... testing.  You cannot predict an entire season or what can be expected by it.  Testing gives the team, the driver and above all, the company time and miles to change what doesn't work and improve what does.

It was stated that over 100,000 miles of testing were completed before Pirelli confirmed their tyre compounds for the season start in Australia. Of course, with each race brings new criteria as well as hardships.  What compounds work on the track surface in China will not work in Canada.

It has not only been testing that has brought Pirelli to where they are but the thousands of researchers, employees and man hours put in behind the scenes.  These are the men and women of the sport that, if even photographed, are usually in the background, only visible by the grey shirts and bright yellow Pirelli emblems with their noses to their clip boards, quickly writing in short hand every bit of information that has been taken from their tyres after each pitstop.

Just like the engine suppliers, each garage has their own tyre technician to assist, answer and record everything.  And, just like the pitcrew, they are in the shadows of the company stars, in this case, the tyres. They are not really spoken of or known for what they truly do each race. Exactly how hard they work for their company is a silence that I feel needs to be broken. These men and woman are key to the present and the future of Pirelli and Formula One.

Pirelli has another two seasons to fulfill with their current contract with the FIA. Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director, has hinted at what Pirelli is hopeful to accomplish.

"We’re very excited about the future, as it’s a fantastic opportunity for both car and tyre manufacturers to explore areas of technology that will ultimately benefit all of us as everyday road users. We want to play an active role in shaping the future development of the sport and enhancing the spectacle of Formula 1 for the public. We’re committed to working closely with all of the teams in order to come up with the most relevant products to today’s market.

“We’re going to keep learning. I’m quite sure that it’s going to be a season of learning for us, as each track is different, has a different challenge. I think at the end of the season we will then have enough data for everything we need to do. With the lack of testing though, ultimately we will want to have our own simulator or means of simulating vehicle and tyre inter-reactions and that is something we will work on going forward."

© Pirelli.com

What the fans hope for in the future for Pirelli is that they do not get blasé. Just because you can produce a tyre compound that can last a whole race, don't. Personally, as a fan of the sport, I hope that Pirelli continues to perform and keeps giving audiences the best racing we've seen in years!