Last Updated on February 3 2025, 6:30 pm

Pirelli have now been Formula One’s dedicated tyre supplier since 2011. The history of tyres within the sport makes for interesting reading but for most of the first fifty years since the inaugural season in 1950, multiple tyre manufacturers were available for he teams to choose from.

The most recent ‘tyre war’ amongst multiple manufacturers was initiated with the return of Michelin to F1 in 2001. Bridgestone had been the sole tyre provider for the preceding two seasons yet the challenge from Michelin was to eventually see F1 opt for a sole supplier of rubber to the sport.

For the 2005 season, tyre switched mid-race were banned with the result that both Bridgestone and Michelin were forced to develop much harder tyre compounds to withstand a range of demands from various circuits together with a full race distance of 300km. Yet the debacle at the 2005 US Grand Prix put pay to this regulation change as the Michelin tyre runners feared the tyres would explode as the cars developed enormous G-forces around the banked section of the Indianapolis Speedway.

 

 

 

F1’s chequered tyre history

A temporary chicane was proposed on the approach to the banking which would slow the cars and protect the tyres. Yet as was often the case in F1 politics at the time, common sense failed to prevail and just six cars from the three Bridgestone supplied teams took the grid to the sound of boos from the 1000’s of fans in the grandstands.

The following year the ‘no tyre change’ rule was reversed but the fall out from the saga in the US saw Michelin decide to exit the sport lang just Bridgestone as the sole F1 tyre supplier. This era of F1 was known for many boring and processional races and in their efforts to spice up the competition, the FIA suggested Bridgestone design F1 tyres that would degrade, forcing the teams into alternative strategies.

Fearing this wold damage their brand for road car tyres, Bridgestone announced suddenly the would withdraw from F1 at the end of the 2010 season. Pirelli were recruited last minute to replace the Japanese manufacturer and began testing the required tyres that would degrade in the August of that year, just six months before being required to supply the entire grid.

The early years for Pirelli were filled with difficulties as they attempted to do something never before attempted and build tyres which experienced severe G-forces but would degrade in somewhat of a predictable pattern. Yet in the eagerness to fulfil the FIA brief, Pirelli made a number of errors and for a while the Italian manufacturer was heavily criticised for bringing tyres which were too short in life span.

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Pirelli exploding tyre dramas

At the time there were no mandated minimum tyre pressures in F1 and come the British Grand Prix in 2013 matters came to a dramatic head as exploding Pirelli rubber hit the headlines.

Lewis Hamilton was leading the race until his left-rear tyre failed after just eight laps. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne suffered the same problem as Hamilton a few laps later. It forced most of the drivers to start driving away from the kerbs, believing it was this causing the failures.

Later in the race, Sergio Perez’s left-rear tyre failed without warning when he was in a front running position. Now twenty tyre failures had been reported across the first eight rounds of the year with events in. Silverstone forcing Pirelli and the FIA into taking emergency action.

Next time out in Germany Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel complained about the state of the Pirelli compounds only for FIA officials to discover the pressures they were running were incredibly low. A 20PSI minimum pressure limit was imposed for the race. Red Bull complained vociferously yet in fact the regulation played into their hands as Sebastian Vettel came home victorious at the Nurburgring.

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F1 Teams guilty of ignoring guidelines

Pirelli were forced to go away and re-do their homework ad returned with tyres far more durable although the topic of exploding Pirelli tyres has never been fully extinguished. Sebastian Vettel lost a race win at the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix after his rear right tyre exploded and the team immediately pointed the finger at Pirelli. Yet the subsequent investigation proved it was debris being the cause of the tyre failure. Valtteri Bottas suffered in similar at the 2018 Azerbaijan GP

Other spectacular failures included Vettel again losing another podium in 2017, this time at Silverstone as the Ferrari driver along with teammate Kimi Raikkonen suffered front-left punctures when travelling at relatively slow speed. Both drivers were trying to nurse their tyres to the end of the Grand Prix but failed to make the strategy work just a few laps from the end of the race.

Others who pushed the life of the tyres well beyond the Pirelli recommended maximum included Vettel and Raikkonen again at the British GP in 2017. Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in Silverstone to win with just three tyres left inflated, as did Bottas and Sainz, but again the teams had asked their drivers to “extremely long stints” Pirelli revealed after yet another investigation.

The introduction of the Qatar race to the F1 calendar in 2021 in place of the COVID related cancellation of the Australia event. The event was opposed on grounds of the Qatari governments poor  ‘human rights’ record together with the fact that the circuit designed for top level motor bike racing was not suitable.

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The tyre dramas in Qatar

Yet the drivers enjoyed the incredible high speed challenge of the local circuit and the event was to return to the F1 calendar on a permanent basis in 2023. Unfortunately the spectre of exploding tyres was to return to the race in the dessert. In an attempt to make leaving the track limits more punitive, the FIA had installed razor like kerbs at a number of the high speed corners with the result that the Pirelli rubber was suffering cuts and losing big chunks of rubber.

A desperate last minute re-drawing of the turn 16 profile with painted kerbs on the asphalt solved the issue, and the kerbs were withdrawn for the 2024 event. Even so during last December’s Grand Prix, the hopes of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sazin were ruined as they both suffered from front left tyre failures within seconds of each other.

The finger of suspicion fell equally between potential debris as being the cause or once again some kind of failure on Pirelli’s part. Yet again a number of drivers had elected to run long in the middle section of the race, hoping for a late safety car and a cheap pitstop.

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Mercedes at fault for running Lewis Hamilton too long

Now Pirelli has revealed the results of its investigations into the 2024 Qatar incidents and once again it was drivers over extending their use of the Pirelli rubber which was at fault. Now the conversation is turning to how this can be prevented.

The idea of maximum stints for each tyre compound have been mooted previously, yet this somewhat removes the strategy side of F1 racing which has become an important part of the spectacle. The most likely solution bizarrely will be that Pirelli opt for a set of tyres for the Qatar weekend which are softer and less durable than the range they have taken the past two years.

Whilst appearing counter intuitive, the softer tyre selection will force the teams into a potential extra stop, thus nullifying the desire of team strategists to attempt to run long. Many F1 fans long for the return to bullet proof F1 tyres, yet most were never forced to watch almost a decade of dull and processional racing before Pirelli saved the day and entered F1 in 2011.

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South African GP: Fantasy or reality?

The latest Formula One news breaking over the weekend s that the South African GP as back on. Or is it? The F1 powers that be would love to hold a race weekend on the content of Africa given their claims to be a global sport are somewhat diminished given there is no representation from the second largest continent whether measured in population or land mass.

Yet getting F1 back to south Africa is proving more tricky than the authorities believed would be the case. The last tine F1 visited the southern tip of the African continent was in 1993 yet Grand Prix racing dates back as far as 1934 where the races were held until 1966 on a 24.4 km (15.2 mi) road course known as the Prince George circuit which ran through the coastal city of East London.

Then in 1960 the foundations were dug for what was to become the home of the South African Grand Prix in Kyalami. The circuit played host to its first F1 event in 1967, where minnow and privateer John Love almost took the victory. The following year saw the legend Jim Clark on the top step of the podium where he broke Juan Manuel Fangio’s record for the most career wins in the sport… READ MORE