Report: Pirelli now eyeing 19-inch F1 tires, not 18-inch

By Aug 5, 2014, 1:15 PM EDT
7 Comments

During last month’s Formula One test session at Silverstone, Lotus reserve Charles Pic turned laps on Pirelli tires fitted with an 18-inch rim.

But while Pirelli motorsports director Paul Hembery (pictured, with one of the 18-inch tires) said that he got good feedback, he did say at the time that a 19-inch tire could be “probably more interesting going forward.”

Sure enough, Hembery’s now confirmed that his company’s focusing on 19-inch tires for future seasons as F1 ponders ways to become more road-relevant.

“We are doing a lot of work – probably focusing on 19-inch now, if I am really honest with you,” Hembery said according to Crash.net. “We are carrying on our work internally on those developments and so from our point of view, it goes ahead.”

The F1 teams would have to give their consent for such a tire change.

After Pic tested with the 18-inch tires – which could be introduced as early as 2016 if necessary – Lotus technical director Nick Chester explained how a bigger tire would have major impact on car design and would need an extended testing calendar leading up to a debut.

As for what the width of the 19-inch tires would be, Hembery said that would ultimately come down to several factors.

“I think that depends on what package of aero changes they are going to make and what they think they might do with the suspension,” he told Crash. “We have heard talk of some form of active suspension. I am not sure if that is going to happen or not.

“But there is a lot of aspects they are talking about which could change what we do with that.”

Alex Palou wins Detroit Grand Prix from pole

By Jun 4, 2023, 5:30 PM EDT
0 Comments

DETROIT – Alex Palou won the IndyCar Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix from the pole, fending off several challenges and three late restarts during a chaotic debut for a new downtown track.

After qualifying first, Palou won by 1.1843 seconds in his No. 10 Dallara-Honda over Will Power, followed by Felix Rosenqvist, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi.

Kyle Kirkwood (who rebounded from falling to 26th in a massive shunt on the first lap) finished sixth, followed by Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong, Marcus Ericsson and Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden to round out the top 10.

As expected, there was lots of action on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile layout that made its debut Sunday with seven caution flags chewing up 32 of 100 laps – and eliminating some contenders.

With 20 laps remaining, Romain Grosjean slammed the wall in Turn 4 while running seventh in his No. 28 Dallara-Honda, which had started third. He later attributed the problem to a suspension failure.

Pato O’Ward’s shot at a decent finish fell apart during a green-flag pit stop on Lap 35. The No. 5 Dallara-Chevy’s left rear wheel was loose as O’Ward left the stall, so he stopped to allow the crew to push him back.

He returned in 26th at the end of the lead lap but then slammed the wall in Turn 9 eight laps later after overshooting the corner.

“Honestly our race went upside down on that pit stop,” O’Ward said. “All downhill from there. It is what it is.”

The yellow flew again during the next restart on Lap 49 as Sting Ray Robb went into the tire barrier in Turn 3 while Christian Lundgaard and Santino Ferrucci (who was trying to fight back onto the lead lap) also were caught scrambling in traffic.

During the caution, Graham Rahal hit the Turn 1 wall and then was rear-ended by rookie Benjamin Pedersen.

“I got a lot of understeer,” Rahal said, struggling to process what had happened to lose control of his No. 15 Dallara-Honda. “It’s on me. I need to see the tape and understand. I’m just disappointed in myself with all the errors this weekend, just not driving well. It’s hard to figure out why, but ultimately it’s on me. I’ve got to perform a heck of a lot better than that, especially on a day like this.

“It’s just not typical of me. I know you’ve got to stay on the dance floor. I don’t know what to say. We weren’t good in the race. We were in pretty bad shape. It’s disappointing. I’ve got to be better. It’s been a really tough couple of months. We need a reset. I need a reset. We need to come back much, much stronger.”

The first incident occurred in the first corner as Callum Ilott rear-ended Kyle Kirkwood on the entry into the Turn 3 hairpin (starts and restarts for the race occurred on the longest straightaway off Turn 2).

Kirkwood, who was starting after clipping the wall in qualifying, was able to continue after pitting to change the rear wing of his No. 27 Dallara-Honda.

But Ilott’s day was over after failing to complete a lap.

“I didn’t have anywhere to really go, but it was my bad for kind of being a little bit on the late side,” the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver told NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee. “I was gaining bit of time, and they just checked up a little bit more than I anticipated the last bit. I wasn’t coming with that much more speed, but I just couldn’t slow it down on the last part, so sorry to the team and sorry to Kyle cause that didn’t help him, either. On to the next one.”

After four consecutive weeks of racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and on the streets of Detroit, IndyCar will take a one-week break before returning June 18 at Road America.