Pirelli announces its tire choices for Baku
Pirelli will bring its three softest tires to Baku. The same choice as last year, when two cars had their tires explode during the race.
Pirelli has announced its tire selections for Baku. Just like in Monaco, the three softest compounds will be provided to the teams: C3 (hard), C4 (medium), and C5 (soft). This choice is explained by the Italian manufacturer through the voice-
Until the arrival of Jeddah, Baku was the fastest urban circuit of the year. However, the requirements of this urban circuit are still relatively low, as none of the turns demand a huge amount of energy from the tires due to low levels of abrasion and contained lateral forces – which means that we can have the same nomination as Monaco. Justifies Mario Isola, the director of Pirelli Motorsport in a statement.
« That being said, high speeds in Azerbaijan always put a certain demand on the tires,” continues Isola. « The main point is traction, and finding the right balance between the front and rear axles is the main challenge for all teams: you need to have enough heat in the front tires to generate grip, despite the long straight lines that cool them down, but not too much heat in the rear, otherwise it is easy to overheat them in traction zones.
« The track temperature is also irregular in Baku, so it is ultimately a quite specific circuit with some different technical challenges, which are nevertheless the same for everyone. » concludes the Italian.
The case law of the 2021 edition
Pirelli’s choices are the same as last year, where the three softest tires were selected. However, during the last Grand Prix, both Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen, the race leader, suffered punctures on their left rear tires. Despite both drivers using the hard compound, their tyres inexplicably exploded on the straight.
Pirelli was then singled out by the teams, and an investigation was conducted by the Italian manufacturer, which established that “there were no production or quality defects in any of the tires, nor any signs of fatigue or delamination. The causes of the rear left failures on the Aston Martin and Red Bull cars were clearly identified. In each case, it was a circumferential rupture on the inner sidewall, which may be linked to the tire’s driving conditions, although the prescribed starting parameters (minimum pressure and maximum temperature of the heating blankets) were respected.”
Since then, new controls have been put in place on tires to prevent the recurrence of incidents from last year. Moreover, the tires are very different as they have transitioned from 13 to 18 inches this season.
