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Tuesday, April 22, 2025

key technical components behind groups’ optimum working window


Mario Isola, director of Pirelli Motorsport, clarifies the technical components that permit one workforce to realize the optimum working window for his or her tires in comparison with one other. Feedback from the paddock recommend it depends upon the tires, however overheating is definitely associated to the automobiles.

Inside this “window” lies the distinction between success and failure. In System 1, it has change into normal follow to reference the “working window” in discussions. Whether or not it’s a driver or an engineer, the idea is a key variable in figuring out if work is progressing in the best route.

Setups are designed to hit the “window,” automobiles are engineered to facilitate this aim, and drivers adapt their driving types to function inside this vary.

To higher perceive the science behind this “window,” Motorsport.com requested Mario Isola, director of Pirelli Motorsport, to offer a simple rationalization of the technical ideas that dominate workforce briefings: “You must begin with the tread compound, the a part of the tire that touches the asphalt, the place contact generates grip based mostly on temperature,” Mario Isola defined.

“When a driver goes out on observe, there’s an preliminary warming section the place grip is diminished as a result of low temperature. Because the tire rotates, it heats up, a course of generally referred to as the warm-up, till it reaches a temperature at which the compound delivers most grip. If this threshold is exceeded, the tire overheats, and grip is misplaced. So the place do drivers at all times wish to be? Clearly, on the peak.”

The power to hit the window—outlined by the minimal and most temperatures the place the tire delivers optimum efficiency—depends upon many components. Usually, folks (particularly drivers) assume the tire is the trigger, nevertheless it’s really an impact. The window will not be solely decided by tire traits however is the results of how a automobile makes use of the tires.

The dimensions of the window varies with completely different compounds, however there are vital variations between automobiles. Suspension design is a key variable, however aerodynamic load performs a vital function, because it determines how a lot the tire is pressed towards the asphalt: “If the contact patch is bigger, grip improves, though it’s not the one issue to think about for efficiency,” Mario Isola emphasised. “Distributing the contact floor extra evenly will increase effectivity and reduces overheating as a result of warmth is dissipated over a bigger space. So it’s honest to say the workforce defines the window with their automobile.”

When Pirelli turned the only tire provider for System 1, one of many requests from groups was to extend the window’s vary, initially outlined as a 3% discount in grip variability. Nonetheless, that vary shortly turned much less related: “A 3% grip distinction at this time equates to about one second per lap,” Mario Isola famous, “an unlimited worth given the present degree of competitors in System 1. We’ve labored extensively to realize practical circumstances in our indoor assessments, and now we will simulate various kinds of asphalt, temperatures, and circumstances.”

The newest technology of tires has improved in warm-up instances (a quicker course of now) and stabilizes to make sure a broader optimum working window with a extra gradual entry and exit from the window. “The traditional instance is overheating,” Isola defined. “When a driver exceeds the window, they really feel a lack of grip and fear they will’t deliver the tires again into the optimum vary. Now overheating is extra gradual in comparison with the previous, permitting drivers to note rising temperatures early and handle the scenario. To change the working curve of the tires, we labored on the chemistry and substances of the compounds, attaining barely wider and flatter working curves.”

Pirelli’s problem is complicated, additional difficult by the necessity to present the most effective compromise for ten groups.
“In a single-supplier state of affairs, that’s how it’s,” Mario Isola admitted. “In championships the place tire suppliers compete, the main target is on the geared up workforce. It’s a state of affairs we all know properly from GT championships. However in at this time’s System 1, the workforce should design the automobile in keeping with the tire traits. Because of this, groups are asking us for extra information earlier and earlier. We’re already at a stage the place they’ve requested info for 2026 initiatives!”

Alex Marino

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