Where do I begin if I want to understand tyre tactics better? And what does the type of tyre mean for the performance of the car?
In: 8
In its simplest form: the softer the tyre, the faster the lap time, but the faster it wears out and loses those benefits.
Harder tyres last longer, but are slower.
So it is a balance between fast lap times offset by more pit stops or a slower tyre and less pit stops.
Tortoise and Hare analogy.
[Chainbear](https://youtu.be/wqf-dJyU_WA) does a variety of great and easy to understand videos on numerous aspects of F1
Newer tires mean better grip on the road surface, better handling, and better acceleration. Formula 1 teams will generally end up with two tire compounds to choose from for a race. The softer one will provide better grip to the track surface, but will often degrade after just a few laps. The harder compound will not provide the same level of grip, but will last longer.
“Tire deg” (degradation) is a very important aspect of F1, which is how quickly a design of the car will result in its tires “going off”, that is losing their grip and making the car slow. Some car designs are easier on tires than others. Pit stops take lots of time. If a car can keep it’s tires in the sweet spot longer than a competitor, you have a huge advantage.
In its simplest form: the softer the tyre, the faster the lap time, but the faster it wears out and loses those benefits.
Harder tyres last longer, but are slower.
So it is a balance between fast lap times offset by more pit stops or a slower tyre and less pit stops.
Tortoise and Hare analogy.
[Chainbear](https://youtu.be/wqf-dJyU_WA) does a variety of great and easy to understand videos on numerous aspects of F1
Newer tires mean better grip on the road surface, better handling, and better acceleration. Formula 1 teams will generally end up with two tire compounds to choose from for a race. The softer one will provide better grip to the track surface, but will often degrade after just a few laps. The harder compound will not provide the same level of grip, but will last longer.
“Tire deg” (degradation) is a very important aspect of F1, which is how quickly a design of the car will result in its tires “going off”, that is losing their grip and making the car slow. Some car designs are easier on tires than others. Pit stops take lots of time. If a car can keep it’s tires in the sweet spot longer than a competitor, you have a huge advantage.
In its simplest form: the softer the tyre, the faster the lap time, but the faster it wears out and loses those benefits.
Harder tyres last longer, but are slower.
So it is a balance between fast lap times offset by more pit stops or a slower tyre and less pit stops.
Tortoise and Hare analogy.
[Chainbear](https://youtu.be/wqf-dJyU_WA) does a variety of great and easy to understand videos on numerous aspects of F1
Newer tires mean better grip on the road surface, better handling, and better acceleration. Formula 1 teams will generally end up with two tire compounds to choose from for a race. The softer one will provide better grip to the track surface, but will often degrade after just a few laps. The harder compound will not provide the same level of grip, but will last longer.
“Tire deg” (degradation) is a very important aspect of F1, which is how quickly a design of the car will result in its tires “going off”, that is losing their grip and making the car slow. Some car designs are easier on tires than others. Pit stops take lots of time. If a car can keep it’s tires in the sweet spot longer than a competitor, you have a huge advantage.
You probably want to get into the formula 1 sub for specific questions, but I’ll give a brief overview for the people who wander here.
This year, there are 5 tire compounds total for the dry tires. They are designed so that they do not last the full race. And per the rules of the league, each driver must use two different compounds in the race (with exceptions for wet races).
The 5 tire compounds range in softness. The softest rubber compound (C5) is the absolute fastest, but also the least durable; it’ll only last a dozen laps before it’s performance drops off significantly. The hardest compound C1 is the slowest of the bunch due to its lack of grip, but it’ll last most of the race. To add to the confusion, the race coordinators chose only three compounds to take to each race (so that there aren’t 5 sets for viewers and teams to keep track of and stock)
So when it comes to watching a race, the pit stops cost time, so it needs to be worth it to change. Lots of different strategies are viable, but only a few are optimal.
You probably want to get into the formula 1 sub for specific questions, but I’ll give a brief overview for the people who wander here.
This year, there are 5 tire compounds total for the dry tires. They are designed so that they do not last the full race. And per the rules of the league, each driver must use two different compounds in the race (with exceptions for wet races).
The 5 tire compounds range in softness. The softest rubber compound (C5) is the absolute fastest, but also the least durable; it’ll only last a dozen laps before it’s performance drops off significantly. The hardest compound C1 is the slowest of the bunch due to its lack of grip, but it’ll last most of the race. To add to the confusion, the race coordinators chose only three compounds to take to each race (so that there aren’t 5 sets for viewers and teams to keep track of and stock)
So when it comes to watching a race, the pit stops cost time, so it needs to be worth it to change. Lots of different strategies are viable, but only a few are optimal.
You probably want to get into the formula 1 sub for specific questions, but I’ll give a brief overview for the people who wander here.
This year, there are 5 tire compounds total for the dry tires. They are designed so that they do not last the full race. And per the rules of the league, each driver must use two different compounds in the race (with exceptions for wet races).
The 5 tire compounds range in softness. The softest rubber compound (C5) is the absolute fastest, but also the least durable; it’ll only last a dozen laps before it’s performance drops off significantly. The hardest compound C1 is the slowest of the bunch due to its lack of grip, but it’ll last most of the race. To add to the confusion, the race coordinators chose only three compounds to take to each race (so that there aren’t 5 sets for viewers and teams to keep track of and stock)
So when it comes to watching a race, the pit stops cost time, so it needs to be worth it to change. Lots of different strategies are viable, but only a few are optimal.
The main issue is temperature. Rubber gets softer and stickier when it gets warmer, improving grip which is valuable for the driver in almost all situations. When it can increase throttle to full power (like coming out a corner), the driver can’t just floor the pedal as tires would just spin, causing the car to fly off the track. In the corners the speed has to be limited in order to not skid to either side. Before the corner, the driver wants to brake as late as possible (to save time) but can’t wait too long as braking too hard will lock up the wheels, causing flat spots. Basically the driver is constantly pushing the tyres to the maximum grip limit before it’s skidding, the more grip the faster he can go.
So you would think hotter tyres = better. But when they get too hot, they can develop melting spots that could even lead to a blown tyre and the wear increase a lot. Meaning the driver is actively maintaining the temperature in a narrow ‘Goldilocks’ range that isn’t too cold but also not too hot. This is also why you sometimes see periods of alternating higher and lower performance by a driver, as when he can profit from driving a bit faster he can sacrifice the tyre temperature in return of for example overtaking or undercutting the competitors. After a fast period you see the lap times increase slightly as he needs to limit speed to cool the tyres again. Another factor is driving behind other drivers, which will deliver hotter air towards the car which cools the tyres down less, hurting performance. This is often why cars can’t easily overtake on narrower tracks unless helped by DRS and such.
Ultimately when the tyre wears down too far, it can’t be cooled as much anymore, basically as it became thinner and less mass gets heated each time, heating it up more. Queue ‘My tyres are dead’ kind of radio messages, the tyres need to be swapped or speed has to be reduced even more. Then comes the type of tyre, that varies with the inherent softness of the material. Softer means more grip at lower temperature, but wears out quicker too. Harder can sometimes, dependent on the actual compound, last indefinitely if not pushed much. The tactics by the team thus boils down to supplying the tires that balance performance vs durability requirements, in practice you often see a soft tyre to start, then a harder tyre to finish.
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