The Pirelli Formula One weekend: the ultimate way to experience F1

The most successful team in terms of points scored in Formula One over the past three years is not Ferrari, and neither is it McLaren nor current champions Red Bull Racing. It is the sole tire supplier Pirelli.

Pirelli has had more podiums than any of the car manufacturers on the current F1 grid. Pirelli has always been, and will always be in the forefront of international motorsports. Pirelli is currently represented locally by PPC Asia, headed by its president Mr. Ronnie Co. PPC Asia has been the official distributor since 2011 and has been making headway in the very lucrative and highly competitive tire wars.

To better understand the high levels of tire requirements at the pinnacle of motorsports, PPC Asia and Pirelli Asia Pte. Ltd. gathered a select group from the Asia Pacific region, and brought them to attend the 2014 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix. Mind you, this is not an ordinary junket, wherein one gets a hotel room, a grandstand GP ticket, and transfers to and from the Sepang International Circuit.

Pirelli pulled out all the stops, and spared no expense as they provided the group with the ultimate Formula 1 experience. This gave attendees to experience the Grand Prix in the ultimate hospitality suite, the Paddock Club.

I have been fortunate enough to attend a few Grands Prix in my time: watching from corporate suites, grandstands, as a general admission ticket holder, even given access from time to time to team garages and team hospitality suites. But nothing can prepare you for the Paddock Club. It is the ultimate in comfort and luxury. It has everything from free flowing drinks (which serves everyone well in the heat and humidity of Malaysia), non stop servings of food (don’t ever go here if you are on a diet), to massages to relieve your aching feet and back, to a butler who can speak at least three languages, and statuesque guest relations officers who can put most ramp models to shame.

Cesar Alarcon Martin, Managing Director of Pirelli Asia Pte. Ltd. and Marco Soana of Pirelli Asia were present all weekend. They led the 20-man contingent to the ultimate F1 fan experience. Events ranged from pit lane walks to a special behind-the-scenes tour of the garages, where we were met by the very cordial Anthony Peacock, Pirelli Overseas Press Officer.

At the Pirelli suite, Peacock offered some insights in supplying tires for Formula One, and about their current contract. Their contract was recently announced to have been extended for another three years, until 2016. One of the conditions stipulated was that “things need to be done differently so Pirelli has to have better control when it comes to tires.”

“From the Pirelli perspective, we take 1800 tires, roughly to each race,” explained Peacock. “We have two nominated compounds for each race. For here (in Sepang), because it is a very challenging track, we have the two hardest compounds, the hard tire and the medium tire. We actually have a new design on the wet tires this year. The big feature of this new design was that we increased the capacity of draining of water from 60 liters per second at full speed to 65 liters per second and by way of comparison the intermediates drain at about 25 liters per second.” Asked about heating up the tires before use, Anthony stated, “Tires are placed in the tire blankets an hour before use, wherein they reach up to 80 degrees.” He revealed that tire blankets will be banned starting next year. “We are doing some testing aimed for next year’s tires, and one of the biggest challenges is that the warm up to still be quick, especially for the hard compound. The challenge is to get them up to racing temperature.”

But what does this all mean to the average motorist? For one, motorsports, particularly F1, doubles as a test bed or an actual R&D laboratory. The tires used at each race are subjected to such extreme forces that the ordinary road car will never achieve. The reasoning is: if it is good enough to be used in the pinnacle of motorsports, then it should fit your daily drive, or even your track car. Take for example Pirelli’s new offering, the P Zero Run Flat tire. The tread design minimizes deformation, which translates to better handling even in the wet by minimizing hydroplaning. The side walls have also been reinforced to achieve its run-flat capabilities of 80 kph for 80 km. Pirelli derived this technology from 100 years of motorsports experience.

As their slogan goes, “Power is nothing without control” and for a car guy, that makes all the difference.