Pirelli, the choice of continuity

Pirelli will soon be appointed as the manufacturer of the racing teams Formula 1 from the 2011 season. However, Michelin has long seemed well placed, able to benefit from its notoriety and its recent experience in F1, Michelin having only left the discipline in 2006. On the other hand, Pirelli has no longer appeared in F1 since 1991. It is therefore not on this point that the difference was made.

It's ultimately not on an economic level either, since Michelin and Pirelli asked roughly the same amount from the teams, a figure estimated at 1,5 million euros per season. It is more about the conditions set by the stables that make the difference. Indeed, if Michelin wanted to make its return to F1 with its own standards, Pirelli complied more with the conditions requested by the teams.

While Michelin wanted to divide the number of sets of tires to be used by three, Pirelli agreed to remain on the same quotas as this season. Michelin, which equips many endurance cars, wanted to emphasize tires with a longer lifespan. Failed, the teams are not ready for this radical change, even though the economic situation could have pushed them to do so.

It is therefore the choice of continuity which tipped the scales in favor of Pirelli, which agreed to supply 13-inch tires, as currently. In addition, Pirelli could become the sole manufacturer of F1 weekends. The premier single-seater discipline being joined in Europe by two support series, GP2 and GP3, Pirelli should supply the tires for these three series. The manufacturer is already present this season in GP3 and should inherit, at the same time as F1, the supply of tires for the GP2 Series.

The teams present in Formula 1 therefore chose Pirelli, trusting the Italian manufacturer to provide quality rubber despite its lack of experience in F1. But several teams, and not the least, had opted for Michelin. This is the case of McLaren, Mercedes, Renault and, much more surprisingly, Ferrari, which Pirelli claimed was a strong support in his candidacy. But the Italian manufacturer being the choice of the majority of teams, it is he who should be designated very soon.