Is tyre degradation back to haunt the F1 teams in Malaysia?

Plenty of pit stops on the cards for the Malaysian Grand Prix?

To add more problems to the teams F1 apart from the existing ones, tyre degradation might play a crucial role in the outcome of Sunday’s race. Tyres were a major talking point last season, and Pirelli have all along been sticking to the fact that they were expecting two or three stops per race for the 2014 season. Unfortunately though, the hot weather conditions in Malaysia might mean that the degradation is on the higher side.

Teams like Ferrari seem to suffer degradation in just 7 odd laps while it’s relatively better for a few of the other teams. It’s going to be an interesting Sunday afternoon, and the teams must be hoping that the weather gods will answer their prayers, as the only way that the teams might have an escape route is through rain.

On his part though, Paul Hembery has stuck to his earlier stance that Pirelli are still expecting two or three stops through the race, although he has also mentioned that the predictions were done based on pre-season testing, and that this is the first time that they are understanding the real impact of the tyres.

“It hasn’t really changed, the input that we’ve had from the teams and the promoter in that we’re aiming to have races of two stops, maybe three in some cases, and to create that you’re going to create a thermal degradation otherwise you won’t have the stops we’re searching for. From the data we have seen so far, we appear to be in the right direction. Of course, it’s all very new for the teams. It’s new for us as well, understanding the real impact on the tyres and the car combination will be, and it’s only now that we’re starting to see the teams working more on what to do with the tyres and what will eventually be part of their race strategy.” – Paul Hembery

Unfortunately for the teams and drivers though, tyres and the hot temperatures have added more woes to their problems, and plenty of drivers have stated that they have had a tough time in adapting to the conditions that are on offer. It’s a bit unfortunate for everyone connected to the problem; these are early days in the season and the teams haven’t still figured out their cars, and they now have to look into tyre degradation as well.

“In the very, very warm temperatures, it’s a huge challenge to get everything right. The cars are on the edge and the tyre degradation was higher than expected today.” – Nico Rosberg

“The car feels good and our focus was on trying to understand the tyres and make sure the balance is right for the weekend.” – Lewis Hamilton

“The high temperatures mean we have to adapt both the cooling package and the set-up of the car.” – Toto Wolff

The team that seems to be worst affected by the conditions is McLaren. After looking so strong in Melbourne, both Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button struggled to adapt to the hotter conditions despite the upgrades that they have brought here.

“We’re finding it tough out there today – especially in the heat. We’re not as strong as we’d like to be in high-speed corners – and, when you have downforce issues, they’re further amplified by the hot weather. So our long runs were tricky, in terms of both tyre degradation and outright pace.” – Jenson Button

“I’ve never driven a car in these sorts of temperatures, so I learned a lot today. As I say, the track temperatures are so hot here that the tyres are really suffering, but it’s the same for everyone, so we need to try and get on top of things before tomorrow’s sessions. I’m going to try and set the car up in order to protect the rears.” – Kevin Magnussen

It’s just the first day of the Malaysia Grand Prix weekend, and there’s a lot of progress to be made by each and every team on the grid. But that doesn’t mean degradation won’t be a problem, as the weather conditions will play a factor as well. The track temperature at one point went up to 51 degrees before cooling off, and that’s a pretty big factor to be considered in the team’s data and strategy. Rain could be a blessing in disguise for a majority of the teams.

By Bala Yogesh