Pirelli: 2012 Japanese Grand Prix tyre point of view

Pirelli medium hard tires

This year, Pirelli will bring the P Zero Silver hard and P Zero Yellow soft tyres to Japan: a change from last year’s nomination when the medium and the soft tyre was used. However, this year’s compounds are generally softer across the board, meaning that the tyres seen in Japan this year will offer even more performance, as has been the case throughout the season.

This has not always been reflected in lap times, due to new technical regulations for 2012 that have slowed the cars down slightly and also brought them closer together in terms of speed. But the tyres themselves have benefitted from an extended window of peak performance – and Suzuka is one of the places that tests them most all year. Along with Barcelona, this is a circuit where the highest energy loadings are recorded all year on the P Zero compounds, mainly due to the number of long and fast corners such as 130R and Spoon.

In fact 130R is the fastest corner of the year taken at 310km/h in seventh gear, where the tyres are subjected to three simultaneous forces: downforce, cornering, and acceleration. The lateral force alone is equivalent to 3.1g, but as 130R is quite an open corner this is not where the tyres experience the most lateral force: instead that comes at Turn 7, the Dunlop Curve, where lateral energy peaks at 3.4g. Because of all these mechanical and thermal demands on the compound, it is not uncommon for the tread temperature to exceed 110 degrees centigrade.

Weather conditions can be complex in Japan – in the past, qualifying has even had to be postponed until Sunday morning due to heavy rain – so as usual Pirelli will also bring the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue full wet.

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