No tyre blankets in F1 from 2024? Drivers and teams see crashes in WEC
The FIA and FOM still intend to operate without tyre warmers in F1 by 2024. Yet it does not seem to be coming to pass. F1 drivers and teams are not waiting for it, which means there is a good chance the project will be postponed.
Tyre warmers gone from F1
At the start of the 2023 F1 season, GPblog spoke to Mario Isola. The Pirelli top man was very clear then: the next goal is to produce tyres that can operate without tyre blankets. In Imola, part one of that plan is already being implemented with new rain tyres from Pirelli that do not need tyre blankets, but for dry weather tyres, it is a bit different.
This is because slicks need to be warmed up much more. If these tyres are not up to temperature, dangerous situations can arise. Just ask WEC drivers after the six hours of Spa-Francorchamps. There, one driver after another slid off the track, so there was a lot of criticism after the race about the rule of working without tyre blankets.
Although this is fixed in the WEC regulations, the FIA has made an adjustment for the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the request of the teams. There, tyre blankets will be used again, after all, to allow all drivers to drive safely.
Complaints from Verstappen and Russell
In F1, there are also big question marks over the plan to run without tyre blankets. The current tyres are already very difficult to warm up. Max Verstappen, for instance, already complained regularly about warming up his tyres behind a slow safety car. Because of that slow in lap behind the safety car after a red flag, many drivers shot straight ahead in the first corner at Albert Park. Verstappen, therefore, does not want this rule to be continued.
George Russell also raised it as an argument. The Brit drove into Verstappen during the F1 Sprint in Azerbaijan. When Verstappen came to seek redress with the Mercedes driver afterwards, the latter informed him that he still had cold tyres.
GPblog has learned from several sources in the F1 paddock that the ban on tyre blankets is not going to happen in 2024. Although Pirelli are looking at the options with the FIA, individual sources reveal that it will not happen in 2024.
When GPblog asked the FIA for a reaction, a spokesperson reveals: "The objective of the FIA and FOM remains to remove tyre blankets for 2024, however following numerous discussions and driver feedback, a final decision will be taken by the F1 commission in July 2023, allowing for additional data gathering and testing feedback to fully inform the conclusions."
The F1 Commission meeting taking place in July will include representatives from the FIA, FOM, F1 teams and F1 engine suppliers. While the FIA and FOM would like to see the tyre blankets disappear in order to cut costs and move closer to carbon-neutral targets, there is little chance that the teams will vote for this plan. The FIA and FOM can still push the plan through with their 20 out of 30 votes, but that will meet with little sympathy from the teams and drivers.
Forget 2024, Pirelli is going to come up with different compounds from the British GP, 2023 in order to combat "driver safety". This smells like a similar TD to combat RB dominance. FIA is just using the wrong tools to bring competition closer. Best way is to simplify specifications and designs, not change rules in the middle of the season.
If they come up with even more simplified specs then they have now, they may as well give them all the same car.
It's a necessary change. From my understanding, F1 is one of the few series that still utilizes tyre warmers. There are two reasons why they pose an issue: The carbon footprint alone for maintaining warmed tyres during a race weekend is enormous. Each tyre requires warming for approximately two hours, and when you calculate the energy usage over the weekend, it amounts to a massive consumption. The introduction of tyre warmers was initially driven by weather conditions. When it's extremely cold, like in Canada, you can't just switch on the grip, and that's where tyre warmers came in handy. However, the technology in tyres has drastically evolved since then, and Pirelli has already developed tyres that don't necessitate warmers. The current tyres are designed with warmers in mind, but when the switch is made, the new tyres will be engineered to provide grip without the two-hour preheating requirement. The otherside of the argument is if the current tyres stay, then the tyre blankets and tyre ovens must be fuelled from a sustainable energy source. And now, for a lighthearted joke: Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired! Edit* I added this in for those F1 fans that are unaware of the Net Zero Carbon: How Formula 1 is going to meet this ambitious target by 2030, and the strides that are being made by the FIA and the tracks they use across the global, I encourage F1 fans to read the carbon footprint reductions that have and are being made. Every bit counts . https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.net-zero-carbon-how-formula-1-is-going-to-meet-this-ambitious-target-by-2030.5QsK9NpYbz7pXp7423I3iJ.html#:~:text=Advanced%20sustainable%20fuels%20remove%20carbon,fuel%20and%2010%25%20renewable%20ethanol.
If that is the case then they will have start on softs every time!........And even then it going to be a risk at the first corner....... They will probably have about 10 cars finishing.. Every team to be fined for a breach .....
They will be skating on hard tyres. Imagine Britain, coming out of the pits and going full speed into the Maggotts
I dont think FIA will go ahead with this level of stupidity. They know there will be a lot of accidents, especially in the pitlane itself. Toto should be shouting at the top of his lungs by now. He is presently regarded as the steward of driver safety ;) - Baku 2022
I don't understand what is gained by canceling the heaters? What is everything being spent on in F1, what kind of cost reduction is being talked about, or closer to carbon-neutral targets?
We dont see plenty of accidents occurring on the roads every day during early morning when vehicle tyres are still cold, so its for the drivers to use their skills to be able to drive within the grip levels of their tyres at that point in time! I can imagine the 'defence' given by a driver in his statement to the police... "It wasn't my fault that I could not stop and hit the car in front because I have only just left my house which was 100 meters down the road and my tyres were still cold, so they did not give me the required grip".
F1 tires are rock hard when not preheated, and your road tire would melt at 100°C which is the around the optimal temperature for F1 tires
i fully agree with you. The drivers will figure out the grip level and adjust accordingly. Indy Car doesn't use tire warmers.
Exactly. One of the criterion's to be regarded as a talented and good driver is to know and drive within the limits of yourself, your car and your tyres! To be very quick but accident prone is not considered to be a talented driver.
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