Qualifying tyres to return?

[TomPryce]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93716

If this is true, I think it will have one of two effects - ruin the tyre strategy race that we've seen in the past couple of seasons, or see a fantastic improvement in the qualifying spectacle. Personally, I don't much care for them coming back, but what do you think?

[AndreaModa]

I think its great as it gets rid of the current debacle where the top 10 have to stay on the tyre they qualified on, which is now a completely pointless rule and even when we had the Bridgestones, it didn't do that much. Plus it will see faster, more exciting qualifying I think, and everyone going balls out to get the best spot they can because they have nothing to loose (i.e. not wasting their race tyre allocation as they currently do, and not having to worry about which tyre they're starting on if they're in Q3).

In all I think it's a superb idea!

[Ferrim]

It's a far better solution to the problem of some people saving tyres for the race than punishing for not using them, or forcing them to run. If you consider that to be a problem; I'm not so sure of that, as it adds a strategic element and a chance to see cars on different strategies, which is always good.

[thehemogoblin]

I'm not interested until teams can use jet engines in qualifying -- but they have to keep them on for the race without using them.

[Cynon]

I am only okay with this if it forces the top 10 runners to start on the qualifying tires.

[RFT]

Tyres that are only good for one fast lap?

Isn't that what pirelli have been calling the "medium" compound this year?

[Londoner]

Paul Hembery has said that Pirelli have spoken to a number of drivers who used qualifying tyres back in the day, and the feedback they got from them was that they universally loved it. Not sure how that ties in with the current grid and their opinions.

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/265794/exclusive-interview-with-pirelli-s-paul-hembery/

[mario]

Paul Hembery has said that Pirelli have spoken to a number of drivers who used qualifying tyres back in the day, and the feedback they got from them was that they universally loved it. Not sure how that ties in with the current grid and their opinions.

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/265794/exclusive-interview-with-pirelli-s-paul-hembery/

I have to say that I'm a bit ambivalent on the idea of qualifying tyres - it might end the tendency of teams to simply spend all their time sitting in the garage, and it might mean that qualifying is given some of its former importance back. That said, it might reduce some of the strategic element that has been present in recent races of whether being very cautious in qualifying can pay you back in the race (the issue of fresher tyres versus track position) - and considering that the teams go through around 50,000 tyres a year according to the BBC's most recent feature on the tyres (and most of those tyres end up being shredded after pretty light use, or no use at all as is often the case for the wet weather tyres), it seems like a considerable waste of resources to reinstate qualifying tyres.

That said, I am interested in the news that they are changing the profile of the tyres for next year to try to increase the contact patch - I presume that Pirelli are expecting that, with downforce levels expected to be cut considerably with the ban on blown diffusers, they are being pushed to partially compensate for that with increased mechanical grip.

[AndreaModa]

But Mario surely the tyres that are shredded can be recycled? Can't the rubber be re-used for new tyres, or perhaps other rubber products?

If that's the case then surely there's no big deal how many tyres they get through - as long as they can be recycled, it's a sustainable process.

[f1-gast]

Rubber van Re-used for new tyres, only the quality is diffrent, that's why one tyre costs 170 euro and the other just 20 euro (as example).

Between GIVE US THE 1500HP QUALIFYING ENGINES BACK !!!!

[Londoner]

Between GIVE US THE 1500HP QUALIFYING ENGINES BACK !!!!

Well, that clearly isn't going to happen again. I'm afraid the days of the grenade engine are long in the past.

[mario]

But Mario surely the tyres that are shredded can be recycled? Can't the rubber be re-used for new tyres, or perhaps other rubber products?

If that's the case then surely there's no big deal how many tyres they get through - as long as they can be recycled, it's a sustainable process.

I'm not sure how much of the material from the original tyres is reused (Pirelli are a little ambiguous about that) - it is possible that at least some of the material is destroyed completely to ensure that their designs are protected (you can read some of the posts by The Mountain Man about industrial espionage within motorcycle racing, where there were wide ranging accusations of theft and copying of rivals designs).

But, even though the material the tyres are made from might be recycled, there is still the considerable waste of resources in transporting the 1800 tyres that Pirelli supplies the teams with (according to them at least) for just one race weekend - and that is before you consider that Pirelli has sometimes been bringing extra sets of tyres to some race weekends for in season development work.

Between GIVE US THE 1500HP QUALIFYING ENGINES BACK !!!!

Well, that clearly isn't going to happen again. I'm afraid the days of the grenade engine are long in the past.

And as I've pointed out in the past, the era of "grenade engines" was very short lived - the turbo engines in the past only reached those power figures for a few years, and the fuels that they were using were lethal (quite literally - they were made from toluene and other related aromatic compounds, the side effects of which are extremely unpleasant and potentially fatal). It'd be utterly impractical for those sorts of fuels and engines to be used again, and there is also the practical consideration that, with falling head counts and considerable pressure to cap costs, qualifying only engines might not be that popular with the teams.

[TomPryce]

Can I just say Mario that your extensive knowledge of F1, your researched posts and interesting subject matter are pretty awe inspiring

But yeah. I actually think it would be going backwards for F1 if they were reintroduced. More costs, more waste, (possibly more dangerous?? I mean, they wear out superfast and drivers will have a new sense of speed by having even more of a need to gun it on a quick lap.)