"A conservative choice last season might become quite an aggressive one in 2015," Paul Hembery tells Sky Sports Online
Friday 9 January 2015 14:42, UK
Pirelli’s Paul Hembery says a predicted increase in race pace in 2015 means F1’s tyre supplier will adopt an aggressive approach in the upcoming season.
The centre of attention for much of 2013 after numerous high-profile tyre failures, the Italian manufacturer enjoyed something of a back seat last year as the teams got to grips with the sport's radical new rules.
However, with a year of development offering the opportunity to develop their engines, Hembery thinks the teams will soon be pushing the tyres to the limit once more.
“Last year people said we were a little bit too conservative and maybe a little bit boring, but I think it is more a case of we went into a year with new technology and there is a little bit of that this year,” he told Sky Sports Online.
“We’ve seen some initial data that suggests the cars are going to make another good step in performance compared to last season and what might have been a conservative choice last season might become quite an aggressive one in 2015.
“So like many we are interested to see what happens with the unfreeze for a little while of the engine regulations, what that is going to mean for the majority of teams – particularly on race pace, that is the one aspect where we expect to see a big improvement in performance. And that might make a conservative choice suddenly a bit more aggressive.”
While the compounds will remain largely the same this year, the supersoft tyre will be amended to improve its operating window. That could open a host of different strategies to the teams and increase unpredictability.
“Just one change really, the supersoft is having a little bit of a tweak to it to improve its working range with the temperature ranges,” Hembery added.
“The structure of the rear tyre is having a difference made to it to distribute the temperature build-up a bit better – all technical stuff which is probably a bit boring for most people, but from our tyre world it is very important.
“It influences the way that the performance maintains over a race distance and can alter very substantially the differences we get on the tyre. So small changes this year, evolution rather than revolution.”
