Live from Budapest with Paul Hembery

Pirelli is present in numerous motorsport categories, including F1, GP2, and GP3. You entered F1 a year and a half ago now. Have you already conducted studies to assess the impact of F1 on your corporate image worldwide?

« A year and a half is very short as a process to have a complete picture of the impact. But we have already noticed a strong increase in our brand image in emerging countries in general and in Asia in particular, which is especially important for us. Our brand recognition has greatly improved. We have reached the point where our presence in F1 influences the consumer, the one who installs the tires on their car. Obviously, we have measured the media impact, the advertising equivalence that would have been needed to achieve the same media exposure and impact. Of course, we will not disclose the return on investment, but what I can say is that it’s very good. We can see it’s working. We currently estimate that there is a good balance between investments and returns. »

Within the Pirelli group as a whole, does your division aim to be profitable or is the goal simply not to have a negative impact on the group’s profitability?

« It is impossible to be in Formula One and make money from it because of all the investments and presence around the circuits. But what we did is we stopped some other marketing projects and reallocated that budget to our presence in motorsports. So being in Formula One has not impacted the company’s overall budget since we only use budgets that were already available. It was important for us to differently allocate existing resources. That being said, we have other participations in motorsports where we try to make money or at least not lose any. We see motorsports as an important exercise for our brand image because it very well represents what we do: we manufacture tires for high-performance cars. If other brands have decided to withdraw from motorsports and promote their brand differently, we decided to increase our presence. We have been in motorsports for more than a hundred years. People want to follow what’s happening in motorsports. So as long as that’s the case, we will be present. »

Do you use your presence in Formula 1 to establish Business-to-Business relationships with intermediary buyers, those who choose to fit your tires as original equipment when cars come out of the factory?

This is just the beginning, but these are two different activities within our group. We already supply a large number of Ferraris, we equip all McLarens, Mercedes is an extraordinary partner for us… But it’s not because we are in F1 that we equip all these manufacturers. Of course, that would be ideal for us. We would like to have synergies between these two aspects. But unfortunately, in reality, it doesn’t work that way. In fact, within car manufacturers, it’s the engineers who decide which tires should be fitted on the car because they want what works best for the car’s performance. This is where we are “lucky” to have products that meet what our customers want on their cars. They choose us for the quality of our products and not because of our involvement in F1.

Since your return to Formula 1, you have had numerous test drivers: Nick Heidfeld, Pedro de la Rosa, Romain Grosjean. Now you have Jaime Alguersuari. Has all this diversity of drivers been an advantage or a handicap for you in the development of your tires?

The goal was primarily to have very talented drivers with a lot of experience. For us, it’s a big opportunity to have all these drivers at our service. The proof is that we have brought almost all of them back to Formula 1. I am convinced that Jaime Alguersuari will be in Formula 1 next season. This means that we are probably the best team to promote drivers to F1 since our success rate has been quite high. Maybe we should sell it for a few million. That way, we could create another team and conduct new tests, creating a virtuous cycle for us! Really, it’s an opportunity for us to be in contact with them like this. We took Jaime Alguersuari because he already had a lot of experience. We want to be there also to help the sport. I am certain that he will greatly benefit from our collaboration because he will understand tire management much better and will be stronger for his return to F1.

What do you think of Martin Whitmarsh’s statement at the press conference on Friday that the championship is difficult to predict because it is dominated by the tires? Is it a good thing for you that the teams are struggling to understand your tires?

« Well, at the end of last season, Martin asked us to give him a challenge with our tires. So we’re just responding to his request! In the end, it’s the same for everyone. I think he must have a different opinion now that Lewis is on pole with half a second lead! It seems they have understood how our tires work. The championship dominated by the tires? No, I don’t think so. It is dominated by the drivers and engineers. Yes, we pose a challenge but, in the end, the best drivers and engineers will win. »

If we step away from F1 a little and look at what Pirelli is doing in GP2 and GP3, we can see that you introduced an extra set of tires starting from Silverstone. It wasn’t much used there and in Germany because of the weather, but what was the reason behind this choice?

« Oh yes, the weather has been catastrophic. Basically, we brought this new train because we felt that the teams’ strategies were somewhat compromised due to the lack of tire trains. The objective was to give the teams a bit more flexibility. »

The GP3 is currently working on a new car for 2013. Do you plan to adapt what you have done in GP2 to apply it to GP3 as well, in order to prepare drivers early on to manage their tires?

« Yes, we are thinking about it. I believe that current cars are over-equipped with tires. They are too large and performant for the complete package of the car. In fact, they might have been too good at the moment, which made it a bit too simple for drivers and teams. So we are going to have to create a bit more difficulty for them, so they have a bigger challenge in managing their tires. This probably involves adapting what we did in GP2. »

At the beginning of the season, you announced that you would financially support the GP3 champion if they decided to move up to GP2. Is this something you want to continue doing in the future?

Yes, there is a cost for that. It’s a big step to move from GP3 to GP2, from a budgetary standpoint. So we always try to support the sport and the drivers. Obviously, we also have limits on the budget we can allocate, but we do our best.

From our correspondent in Budapest