Pirelli Unveils New Tyre Construction for 2023 British Grand Prix
Jul.6 - The dry tyres for the 2023 British Grand Prix will be the C1 as P Zero White hard, C2 as P Zero Yellow Medium, and C3 as P Zero Red soft. However, there are important changes made to the tyre construction that will be introduced at Silverstone to cope with the increasing performance of the cars.
Pirelli's Motorsport Director, Mario Isola further explained the matters for the weekend: “The British Grand Prix will mark the debut of a new slick tyre construction, using materials that have been brought forward from their anticipated introduction next year. This change in specification was made necessary due to the increased performance of the cars seen since the start of the season – both in terms of outright speed and loadings – compared to the pre-season simulation data supplied to Pirelli by the teams last winter, and the fact that this trend is only set to increase as the championship goes on.
We’ve worked very hard on simulation over the last few years in order to not only supply a product that meets the performance targets set by all the stakeholders but also to have the ability to anticipate any eventual issues and react to them promptly.
The new specification gives the tyre extra resistance against fatigue but does not affect any technical parameters or its behaviour on track. All the teams already had the opportunity to try the new tyre construction out at the Spanish Grand Prix, when two sets were put at the disposal of each driver in free practice. Their comments were in line with our expectations, especially when it came to transparency in terms of performance.
The new specification also allows us to keep front and rear tyre pressures largely unchanged compared to last year, despite a significant increase in average loads.
This debut will come on a track that is traditionally one of the hardest on tyres; on our internal charts, Silverstone is right at the top in terms of stress and lateral forces exerted on them: particularly the front-left.
The track also takes a lot out of the drivers, who have to cope with lateral accelerations in excess of 5g throughout its rapid corners. The compound choices – which, unlike the structure, are not undergoing any change in specification – are identical to previous years at least in name: C1 is the hard, C2 is the medium, and C3 is the soft. However, the current C1 is in fact a brand new compound for this year, which fits in between the C2 and the C0: our new name for the hardest compound in the 2022 range,” Isola explained.
Pirelli also explained several other topics for the weekend, such as Silverstone being a demanding track for the tyres (especially the front-left) due to the high cornering speeds seen at the circuit, which are "some of the highest average cornering speeds of the year", detailing the Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel as a key reason behind that fact.
Moreover, the tyre company reminded us of the plans after the British Grand Prix: "Pirelli will remain at Silverstone from July 11-12 for a slick tyre development test without tyre blankets. Taking part in the test is Red Bull (for one day), Haas, and Williams."
Teams are expected to reject the ban of dry-tyre warmers for the 2024 F1 season, with the decision, on whether Pirelli has done enough to run blanket-free tyres, set to be made after the test.
The minimum starting pressures for the tyres for the 2023 British Grand Prix will be 26.5 PSI (front) and 23.0 PSI (rear).
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