2013 German GP - Nurburgring

[Chuckjr]

"Too small a timeframe to change the tyres, but Pirelli has been ordered to have a meeting with the teams on wednesday and need to have a concrete proposal. Source: James Allen."

"Medium and Soft tyres, These will mean we will have a stronger Lotus and Ferrari. "

"Rumors... Seems we already will see kevlar belt tires at Nurburgring."

"They had them ready to go at silverstone. It was only the veto by Lotus and Ferrari that stopped them being used so I can't see any reason why they can't use the tyres that they had ready fro that event. It may mean that it's Hard and mediums, rather than hard and soft..."

"You would think a quick fix would be to bring the soft and super soft from last year. If this year's tyres are one step softer, this would be equivalent to the soft and mediums fro 2013 - which is exactly what we were supposed to have."

"Good news for Lotus & Ferrari. Also, Pirelli are bringing kevlar bonded tires, that will still be in the Soft & Hard configuration?"



So which tire compounds will be in Germany? Is there any decision yet?

And will they be the steel or Kevlar type?

[WhiteBlue]

double post

[WhiteBlue]

The tyre compounds choice has been communicated earlier and will not change AFAIK, medium for primes and soft for options. The carcass and general construction will be 2013 style and geometries on all four wheels. Different on the rear wheels will be the steel belts will be replaced by Kevlar. Those are the prototype tyres designed for Canada and tested by many teams there.

[iotar__]

We could be talking about an air temp of 27C+ because a heatwave is expected in northern Europe starting this weekend

Good news for Lotus & Ferrari. Also, Pirelli are bringing kevlar bonded tires, that will still be in the Soft & Hard configuration?

edit: although I've read now that the Nurburgring is at quite a high altitude so it might not be so bad

For the track it is expected no more than 24 degrees, but this could change, if it is a very sunny day the temperature could be increased in 3-4 degrees easily. So Lotus and Ferrari are praying for the typical summer day.

Higher temperatures are expected in all europe, I live in the south and now we have 21 degrees, 27-29 are expected for Sunday.

Red Bulls were fine in Bahrain, (I know it's a different track, corners or whatever). Temperatures should help Ferrari/Lotus but I don't expect it to be a huge change. Weather forecasts I saw are for 23 degrees on Sunday.

About young drivers test/helping Merc thing : it seems some teams will run only regular drivers (speculation?) but "only rookies will be allowed to do actual development testing". Huh?

[SiLo]

Basically they can't be using their actual driver line up or test drivers to do development work, they would have to run with the actual spec car they ran at the last grand prix I would assume. So if they use their drivers they can only really learn about the tyres, and more about whatever upgrades they had previously installed.

[godlameroso]

The weather is incredibly difficult to predict in the Eifel mountains, however, given the recent weather trends points to it being a relatively dry weekend. The humidity tends to be high and this will be the crucial aspect in determining any precipitation. If the temperature stays above 72f/20ish C it should be dry, the lower the temperature the cloudier it will get, while rain is typical if the temperature fluctuates from below the dew point, (usually in the low 20's) into the high 20's.

All models are converging on the temperature being above 21C for the rest of the weekend ergo humid albeit with no rain and cloudy.

[Vasconia]

The non hot temperatures and the new tyres will change everything, the kevlar material will make the tyres stronger which will be very helpful for RB and Mercedes. Ferrari and Lotus will struggle on Saturday and perhaps on Sunday too.

And also the "new tyres" for Hungary and the rest of the season could be very beneficial for the teams which suffer more from rear tyre degradation. So are Ferrari and Lotus coursed for the rest of the season? perhaps yes.

[marcush.]

I don´t think Nurburgring weather is difficult to predict...in around 10 years of racing there you could count the weekends with no rain almost single handed but especially end of june and late in the summer ,september /october there is a good chance for a warm and sunny race .

[WhiteBlue]

The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association wish to express their deepest concerns about the events that took place at Silverstone.

“We trust that the changes made to the tyres will have the desired results and that similar problems will not occur during the German Grand Prix weekend.

“We are prepared to drive our cars to the limit, as we always do, and as it is expected by our teams, sponsors and fans.

“However, the drivers have decided that, if similar problems should manifest themselves during the German Grand Prix, we shall immediately withdraw from the event, as this avoidable problem with the tyres endangers again the lives of drivers, marshals and fans.”

I think that is a very sensible approach by the GPDA. It would be the right thing to cancel the event and not race if we get another unacceptable tyre failure during practise, qualifying or the race at the Ring.

I also liked the comments from Mark Webber who said that tyre suppliers are not subject to stringent safety testing as the chassis constructors are. I think the FiA needs to do something to prevent a tyre supplier wriggle out of his responsibility as Pirelli did this week. I haven't made up my mind what needs doing but for starters they should keep the rule making authority for all tyre related issues in hand and not delegate that to the teams. The FiA can do that because they are the responsible body for safety relevant components.

[Juzh]

If last year is anything to go by there days, then red bulls will favour soft compund and "struggle" on mediums.

[PlatinumZealot]

They learned their mistakes after that race, and Newey said he is sure not to do those setup mistakes again!

[raymondu999]

If last year is anything to go by there days, then red bulls will favour soft compund and "struggle" on mediums.

Which events last year have caused you to make this inference?

[WhiteBlue]

The drivers are now doing installation laps for 1st free practise. Alonso parks his car at turn 7.

[Bomber_Pilot]

The drivers are now doing installation laps for 1st free practise. Alonso parks his car at turn 7.

And he had pitotes mounted on the front of the car

[Vasconia]

I was expecting to see Ferrari struggle but not so soon.

No rain, cloudy weather and nice temperatures, everything as it had been expected.