Pirelli finding no evidence of repeat Qatar F1 tyre dramas

Pirelli’s initial analysis of tyres used in practice at Formula 1’s 2024 Qatar Grand Prix has revealed no evidence that the problems that blighted last year’s race will be repeated.

F1’s sporting rules for the 2023 Qatar GP had to be altered so a one-off mandated three-stop race would take place at the Losail circuit after damage was discovered in tyres used on long runs earlier that weekend.

It was feared this damage could lead to potential tyre failures at a very high-speed layout and so the race – eventually won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – took place with prescribed maximum stint lengths of 18 laps to minimise the safety risk.

Pirelli typically tests three or four sets of randomly selected tyres after each practice session for safety analysis, which involves cutting sections of sidewall and the main surface tread and checking the layers within for the microscopic separations in the sidewalls between the topping compounds and the carcass cords that were detected here last year.

After the sole practice session in Qatar this time, Pirelli doubled that checking spread to eight sets and so far the Italian manufacturer is satisfied the changes made to round off the top of the ‘pyramid’ kerbs installed here last year, as well as much lower temperatures this time around, have reduced the stress on the tyres.

“Based on what happened last year, we checked some of the tyres from FP1,” said Pirelli chief engineer Simone Berra. “At the moment, we didn’t see what we have seen last year.

“So, it seems that all the modifications we have made together with the support from F1 and the FIA had an influence, which is something positive. We are really happy with that.

“We simulated the new CAD geometry [of the tyres] with the ride on the kerbs and the results we found are in line with what we are now experiencing on track.”

But with stint lengths in FP1 on a sprint weekend limited in length due to its time constraint, the biggest pre-GP test for the tyres in Qatar remains the event’s sprint race, which will take place over 19 laps

Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, said on Friday that “hopefully the work Pirelli have done with the circuit to modify the kerbs, with their simulations, means we don’t have a situation like last year where suddenly you have prescribed stint lengths”.

But, Shovlin added: “The first good data for that is going to come from the sprint race.”

However, Pirelli is encouraged that it has so far not encountered the “signals” something was already amiss with its tyres at this stage in the 2023 event.

“Obviously, we will see the results after the sprint, which is more representative of longer runs – more mileage, pushing, battling, fighting,” said Berra.

“We will have a definitive answer tomorrow, but for the moment it’s very positive because last year at this time we already had some signals about possible issues on the tyres.”

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble and Stuart Codling.