Pirelli has seen no proof of something uncommon in how groups are working their tyres amid the newest tech intrigue in F1 over a possible water cooling trick.
Suspicions about a number of groups doubtlessly having discovered a method to assist cool their tyres in races, by injecting water in to them via the valves, are understood to have erupted after the Singapore Grand Prix.
It’s understood that this was prompted by indicators of moisture being noticed inside wheel rims after the tyres had been stripped following the grand prix on the Marina Bay circuit.
The FIA has been pushed by Pink Bull to dig into the matter, and its head of single seater issues Nikolas Tombazis is known to have spoken to Pirelli about it in Brazil in addition to have oversight of tyres being stripped after the dash race at Interlagos.
The official scrutineering report from the dash race mentioned that every one tyres that had been inspected after the dash had been compliant with the rules.
Pirelli itself says that, following its chats with the FIA, it’s more than pleased to do something it might to assist any probe – however says that preliminary evaluation has not pointed to something untoward going down.
Mario Isola, its head of F1 and automobile racing, mentioned: “I can not see something unusual from the info we have now. I haven’t got any proof.
Pirelli tyres
Photograph by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Photos
“Clearly, as I mentioned, it is as much as the FIA now to determine what to do and to inform us if we are able to help, as a result of on the finish of the day the one factor we are able to do is to help them.
“If there’s something we are able to do to test, or to provide them recommendation on a attainable state of affairs, we’re right here to help.
“I am not conscious of any concern, however I heard the story, and I’ve additionally tried to know why it must be achieved, which now I’ve an thought. However for the remaining, it is all within the fingers of the FIA.”
Isola defined that, in principle, it was fairly a easy activity to inject water into the tyre – though the physics at play had been fairly difficult and it was not with out a draw back by way of impacting inside pressures.
“How to try this may be very straightforward,” he mentioned. “You will have a valve – and also you simply put water inside.
“However how the system works is a special story. It is principally a thermal impact: warmth switch between the tyre and the rim that ought to give extra consistency or much less degradation to the tyre, even when you have worse management of the strain.
“Clearly, when you have a vapour steam contained in the tyre you lose the management of the strain as a result of you’ve gotten a strain that’s greater.”
Isola mentioned any crew that did inject water into the tyres to assist with cooling could be going in opposition to an FIA technical directive that was issued just a few years in the past concerning the therapy of tyres.
“The TD got here some years in the past when there was a dialogue on this,” he mentioned. “There was a dialogue additionally on particular gases the place it was urged some groups had been altering the fuel into the tyre to raised management strain.
“Then somebody began to speak about moisture within the tyre, and why we should always have kind of.
“We provide the tyres with dry air inside. We’ve got a dryer linked to our system, they usually get all of the tyres with dry air, as within the rules.
“Within the technical directive, it is written that any modification to that is forbidden, and it is fairly clear. However then it’s important to have a transparent proof when you have a state of affairs like that.”