A new technical match behind the scenes: “In the hot races you will see the difference”

There is another technical match that is being played in silence. While there is a lot of talk about engines and aerodynamics, behind the scenes there is also a lot of focus on the development of the rims, which this year has returned to the teams. Pirelli has found different schools of thought in managing tire temperatures, which are destined to emerge with the arrival of the European summer. All eyes are on Mercedes, which, according to Antonelli, has pushed hard on tire cooling. The game on the rims Even with the new generation of single-seaters, the balance of power continues to be affected by temperature variations. It is a direct consequence of the attention that the teams are dedicating to cooling the tyres, each following a different path, as Simone Berra, Pirelli’s Chief Engineer, says: “There is a trend and in my opinion in the hot races the difference will emerge more between those who have worked to try to cool more and those who have instead made the tires work at higher temperatures”. Already last year there was a lot of talk about the brake baskets and cooling ducts, particularly on the McLaren, designed to regulate the heat transfer between discs and tyres. Now the game is even broader, given that the new regulations have liberalized the development of rims. “The big difference compared to last year is that the rims are no longer standard, but are an actual component that the teams develop,” explains Berra. “Everyone has their own philosophy, also with regards to the heat exchange between the rim, internal air and tyre. Depending on the design choices of the teams, we see evolutions in temperature and pressure of the tires with much more marked differences between the individual cars.” “Each team has made its own choices to reach certain temperatures and certain operating pressures. Clearly, when it’s colder, some design choices backfire a bit, because if with the rim you tend to want to cool the tire a lot, then you have problems getting it up to temperature. Others, however, who have chosen a path more similar to that of last year, therefore with a more linear evolution of the pressures to have a little more temperature on the tire side, in these conditions [di freddo] they are favourites”. Watch out for Mercedes. In Canada, many teams have had difficulty getting their tires up to temperature. This is nothing new, given that the Montreal circuit always generates little energy in the tyres, to which is added a decidedly cool climate. Until last year, Mercedes was the car that performed best in cold conditions and in general when the tires worked at lower temperatures than usual. Initially it was thought that the W17 had inherited the same characteristics, but according to Antonelli it seems that the cold of Canada has instead slowed down the Silver Arrows. “Our car is very good at cooling the tires”, commented Kimi. “This weekend it was so cold that it was difficult to get them up to temperature and I think this penalized us a little.” The words of the Italian driver suggest that Mercedes is among the teams that have designed the rims to limit overheating of the tires as much as possible, continuing to push in this direction with the updates brought to Canada. “This package gives you more load and we felt it. but it has also improved the level of cooling”, says Antonelli. The W17 could therefore prove to be even more competitive with the arrival of the summer heat, especially in the management of thermal degradation, but Ferrari also seems to like the high temperatures, invoked on several occasions by Fred Vasseur. A mix of factors. The summer and European circuits will certainly increase the relevance of thermal degradation. Releasing high aerodynamics will be an important quality for managing the tires over the long distance, but it is not a given that those with more grip will be able to contain better the drop in performance. Engineer Berra explains: “In hot races, thermal degradation is the main factor. Overheating and going outside the usage window causes you to have greater pitch decay. Although one can release more load and have a more stable car in corners, perhaps it can generate more temperature [nella gomma] precisely due to a different design choice of the rim”. “There are certainly several factors”, continues the Pirelli Chief Engineer. “The load also influences, because if you slip, you induce micro-slips which generate high surface temperatures and cause terrible thermal degradation. It’s a combination with the philosophy of the rims and the whole car in general. It also depends on how the suspension works the rubber in high-speed corners and how it distributes the energy across the tread. That is another important effect that significantly influences degradation”. In short, we will have to wait for the first real hot race to judge the best car in managing degradation, but what is certain is that rim development has once again become an important challenge ground capable of making a difference. 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Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-06-04 17:00:00