16/05/2023
NEWS STORY
Pirelli has opted to bring its softer range of compounds to the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, which means the C3 (as the P Zero White hard), the C4 (as the P Zero Yellow medium) and the C5 (as the P Zero Red soft) will be made available to teams throughout the weekend. The Imola circuit is the second on the 2023 calendar - after Baku - to feature the three softest tyre compounds.
The greater softness of the compounds could open up more racing strategies. Imola is traditionally a one-stop race but with a trio of tyres that are likely to degrade less than those used in the past, the teams will have more alternatives.
The Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari celebrated its 70th birthday this year. Having been completed in 1953, Imola is an "old-school" track, narrower than many modern ones. For this reason, overtaking is also particularly challenging but, at the same time, more spectacular.
The asphalt, despite having been re-laid several years ago, is moderately abrasive on tyres. The track is smooth and lateral and longitudinal forces are balanced. The downforce and the evolution of the track are also average.
In 2022 the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was held on the penultimate weekend of April, a month earlier than this season: theoretically, there should be higher temperatures but, at the moment, it is expected that they will barely exceed 20 degrees C.
A new qualifying format will be tested during the Imola weekend. In each of the three qualifying sessions, teams will be required to use only one type of compound: in Q1 the hards, in Q2 the mediums and in Q3 the softs.
The so-called "Alternative Tyre Allocation" (ATA) will make it possible to reduce the number of sets of dry-weather tyres supplied by Pirelli to 11, compared to 13 per car on race weekends where an F1 Sprint is not held. These will be divided into three hard, four medium and four soft. The number of sets of wet tyres remains unchanged: four sets of Cinturato Green intermediate and three sets of Cinturato Blue full wet.
Each driver will have a total of seven sets of tyres available for Sunday's race, including at least one of each of the mandatory compounds: hard and medium, as usual. Of the remaining four sets available, one will be returned after FP1, one after FP2, and two after FP3.
Mario Isola: "The first round of the 2023 season in Europe will feature two important innovations in terms of tyres, both aimed at improving the environmental sustainability of our sport.
"The first centres around qualifying: at Imola we will be testing a new regulation that requires teams to use a different type of compound for each of the three sessions, with the hards fitted for Q1, the mediums for Q2, and the softs for Q3. This means a reduction - from 13 to 11 - of the sets of dry tyres that each driver has available for the entire event, therefore decreasing the environmental impact generated by the production and transport of the tyres.
"Then, with the same aim, starting from this grand prix, a new compound of full wet tyre will be introduced which will not require the use of tyre warmers beforehand. Track tests have shown even better performance than the previous Cinturato Blue full wet, even without the electric heating of the tyre. The result of studies carried out by Pirelli, it is the first concrete step towards the use of dry tyres without preheating."
Finally, we have chosen to bring our range of softer compounds (C3, C4, and C5) to Imola, which could offer the teams a wider range of strategic options ahead of the race."