2013 Chinese Grand Prix from the tyre point of view

2013 Chinese Grand Prix from the tyre point of view:

This is the first time in the season that Pirelli has nominated the P Zero Yellow Soft compound tyres along with the white sidewall medium compounds. Although the temperatures in China are not particularly high, the softer 2013 generation tyres will see a lot of degradation due to the high lateral forces and teams will have to come up with smart strategy to overcome this fallback. The challenging sections of the track on T1 and T2, T13 and T13 and the sharp righter-hander hairpin bend at the end of the back straight, all take a toll on the front left tyre.
Pirelli's brand ambassador says:
Jean Alesi: "China is a circuit that is again not very typical of the others, and although I never raced there myself, it looks like a great track. From a tyre point of view, the drivers will have to find the best compromise between performance and degradation, which is exactly the way that it has always been in Formula One. I raced through many different tyre regulations and suppliers during my career andndash; even in the era of qualifying tyres andndash; and while they all had different aspects, Pirelli is the company that has supplied the most entertainment to all the fans: so far we have seen two fantastic races. This is exactly what was asked, and in my opinion just what the sport needed. One thing that doesn't change at all is that the best teams will always be the most successful, so there is no point for anybody to complain because this will always quite rightly be the case, whatever you do with the regulations."

Pirelli's motorsport director says:
Paul Hembery: "China has often produced some of the best races of the year, where strategy has been at the forefront of the action. With all our compounds having got softer this year the degradation is deliberately more extreme leading to increased performance, but history has shown that it never takes too long for the teams and drivers to get on top of the tyres. Shanghai is less aggressive on the tyres than the last round in Malaysia but we would expect to see the majority of competitors go for three stops although some may try two. Last year we had a new winner with Mercedes and Nico Rosberg, who were able to get the most out of their tyres from the very beginning of the weekend in order to spring a surprise. That goes to show exactly what is possible with the correct tyre management at this point in the season."

The tyre from a circuit point of view:
andbull; China puts plenty of energy through the front tyres in particular, due to the number of high-energy corners andndash; such as turn one, which is almost a full circle andndash; and the heavy braking areas, which causes weight to transfer towards the front of the car. The most stressed tyre is the front-left, with China featuring the heaviest braking seen all year.
andbull; The other key corner from a tyre point of view is turn 13: a long right-hander, just before the main straight, which is slightly banked. The loading on the tyres is steadily increased throughout this corner as the cars accelerate out of it.
andbull; Last year, the medium and soft compounds were also chosen for the Chinese Grand Prix. The race winner (Rosberg) adopted a two-stop strategy, starting on the soft and then completing two stints on the medium. The second and third placed finishers (Button and Hamilton) stopped three times: starting on the soft, changing to the soft again, and then completing two final stints on the medium. The fourth-placed driver (Webber) also stopped three times but did just one stint on the softs followed by three on the medium, while the fifth-placed finisher (Vettel) stopped twice on a similar strategy to Rosberg.
Technical tyre notes:
andbull; The medium compound, with its low working range, is expected to have a good warm-up even in low temperatures, guaranteeing better consistency of performance and more contained degradation. The soft tyre, with a higher working range, works in a different way. In cold atmospheric conditions it takes slightly longer to warm up, especially at the front. But it will then ensure stronger grip with more accentuated degradation and a useful working life of around 14 to 16 laps.
andbull; The performance gap between the medium and the soft compound in China is expected to be between 0.5s and 0.6s per lap.
andbull; Throughout the banked Turn 13, with maximum downforce pushing onto the car, the contact patch of the tyre can increase to twice the size that it is while the car is stationary.

Pirelli in China:
andbull; Pirelli has been present in China since 2005, when the company built its first factory for radial truck tyres in Yanzhou. Since then, the factory has developed into a major international production hub. Pirelli set up a second factory in the region, producing tyres for premium cars in 2007. Production of car tyres in China more than doubled last year.
andbull; Pirelli has met with plenty of recognition in China last year. The Italian firm won the 'Best Enterprise Brand Image Award' at the 2012 China Finance Summit, while plaudits for the newly-launched Cinturato P1 in China (Pirelli's ecological tyre) included the 'Fuel Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Tyre of China 2012' award from Motor Trend magazine.
andbull; Pirelli China's activities last year included events such as Premium Experience Days, Maserati Trofeo, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Ferrari Challenge Asia, China Rally and Subaru Driver Championship.