Pirelli urged to reconsider design as maximum tyre life rule imposed
Pirelli has been urged to reconsider its tyre design, in light of the unusual rule change for the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix.
A better solution to the issue triggering a maximum tyre life in the Qatar Grand Prix has been put forward by Ayao Komatsu.
A mandatory maximum tyre usage limit has been imposed upon the teams for this weekend in Qatar, meaning each driver will have to pit at least twice during the Grand Prix.
Why a mandatory tyre life has been introduced for Qatar GP
Ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, Pirelli confirmed that, despite the use of the three hardest compounds in its range, each tyre can only be used for a total of 25 laps over the weekend.
This is cumulative, meaning that it doesn’t matter when a tyre is used: if a tyre is bolted to a car in practice, qualifying, the Sprint event, or the Grand Prix, the maximum number of laps it can be used for is 25 laps, in total, across all these sessions.
This applies to all the compounds, despite the reality of the hardest compound surviving longer than the softer compounds.
The move has been made due to the tyres reaching their maximum wear rates, courtesy of the long, sweeping corners and demanding surface of what is primarily a motorcycle racing circuit.
With no drop-off in tyre performance prior to the compounds reaching maximum wear rates, the imposition of a usage limit was deemed the safest option to prevent any dangerous failures around the fast Losail Circuit, with Pirelli putting forward the 25-lap limit to the FIA.
However, while accepted as a necessary measure to ensure the safe running of the Qatar Grand Prix, PlanetF1.com understands that the effect of the measure has left the governing body and a number of the teams less than impressed, due to the tangible effect on the Grand Prix; strategic variety will be minimal, with every team forced into a minimum of two pit-stops due to the 57-lap duration of the race.
A similar 18-lap maximum was imposed at the same circuit in 2023, although that was due to kerb design triggering micro-cuts in the tyres, rather than being specifically down to wear rates.
The only team boss to speak to the media on Thursday in Qatar, Ayao Komatsu, said a more effective tyre construction would have prevented this scenario.
“Those artificial regulations are not great,” he said, when asked by PlanetF1.com in Qatar.
“Whenever you’re trying to force a certain two-stop strategy, an arbitrary limit on the life of a tyre, it’s not great.
“I think it’s going to harm the racing. So for me, it should happen naturally.
“I get it’s not an easy thing to do, but some of the tyres Pirelli used to produce, on the under-layer, once you hit the under-layer, you see the clear lap time degradation.
“So then it’s up to teams to accept or pit, right? So, if you’re going two seconds slower, I’m sure people’s gonna pit.
“I’m not a tyre designer, but I’ve seen it before that you can design and produce an effective under-layer.
“So if they avoid that wear while completely wearing the tyre out which then may result in the puncture, of course, it’s a safety issue. It’s not good.
“But I think that’s their job, to produce that kind of a non linear deg.
“I’m just never fond of setting those, let’s say, artificial limits, forcing a number of stops. I don’t think it works.
“I get Pirelli is concerned. They weren’t expecting people to do so many laps here last year on the front left tyre, I think it was at the limit in terms of wear, so I get their concern.
“If that was the issue, I think you should produce or revise your tyre design or compound, you know, the under-layer.
“But it’s not my job to design tyres. It’s their job to design tyres.”
Put to him that it should not be Pirelli’s job to set such a limit, Komatsu said the situation would be a non-issue if the teams could monitor the wear more effectively.
“I get their concern because if tyre wear doesn’t give you any lap time degradation, teams push to the limit, and then for us, it’s scary as well,” he said.
“I remember the first year in Qatar, I was really, really worried about tyre failure.
“But it’s very, very difficult for us to make a judgment call as well. The fact that tyre has no degradation when you hit 100 per cent wear is not a good thing. I’m sure Pirelli agrees it’s not a good thing.
“I don’t know why they struggle, but they’ve done it before, so I’d like to think they can mitigate it with such a mechanism.”
As for the drivers, the primary concern highlighted was on the lack of strategic variety, with some suggesting that the fate of the tyres should be left to the teams.
“I think it should be open,” Pierre Gasly said, when asked by PlanetF1.com about the topic.
“You might say there is a risk and ‘it’s up to you guys’ to decide where is the limit.
“We’ve got amazing engineers. They know exactly what’s going on. They know where is the limit.
“They know how much stress we have on the tyre. I think it’s a debate, but going on the safety side of thing is never a bad idea. But I’m sure it can be pushed more as well.”
Charles Leclerc was less gung-ho, explaining that the steps taken are understandable given the safety concerns.
“I think, as a driver, we are kind of crazy, so I think we will be really happy to take the risk and to go for it,” he said.
“But it’s also true that the FIA is here exactly for that, to try to take those measures that sometimes we are probably going to push back for everyone’s safety, because it can be dangerous to blow a tyre on a on a track like that. So I understand where it’s coming from.”
The mandate for Qatar comes shortly after the F1 Commission put on hold the proposal to introduce a mandatory two-stop strategy on a regular, or even permanent, basis, following an experiment with the format in Monaco earlier this year.
The proposal is understood to have received little by way of team support and that, while officially on pause, is unlikely to gain the support needed to be introduced even when the topic is revisited next year.
Asked for his thoughts on the two-stop rule for Qatar, Williams’ Carlos Sainz emphasised the temporary nature of the measure for this weekend, and said moves that limit strategic flexibility are “never good”.
“I don’t think it would work in the future to put a forced two-stop limit,” he said.
“I’ve seen some comments saying that. I think the races are the best when you have a variety of strategy and it’s between a one and a two, or between a two and a three.
“But it’s never good when it’s a forced two-stop like we saw in Monaco or here a few years ago, when it was almost like a three-stopper or a four-stopper mandated.
“Because if in the end, everyone has the same deg, same tyres, it’s not like you can do much with flexibility. And I think the future solution of F1 is having more of a variety of strategies that can work, rather than a mandated number of stops.
“But I think for here it’s just purely reliability, and we will see.”
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