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Race start will show true impact of new tyre pressure checks

Pirelli believes that the real impact of the change in tyre pressure checks that came into force at the Austrian Grand Prix will only be seen in the first stint of the race if it remains dry.

Pirelli tyres

Pirelli tyres

Pirelli

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF16-H
Pirelli tyres
Pirelli tyres
Pirelli tyres
Pirelli tyres
Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director in the press conference
Pirelli tyres
Pirelli tyres

Followings months of suspicions that teams had found clever ways to manipulate tyre pressures through heating and cooling of wheels, the FIA announced new procedures on the eve of the Red Bull Ring event.

From this weekend, minimum pressures will be checked before wheels are fitted to the cars. This prevents teams from being able to manipulate the pressures temporarily through clever heating tricks.

In theory any team that had been able to better optimise pressure would have their biggest advantage at the start of the race, which is why many teams were spotted using brake heaters on the grid before the start.

Having lower pressures for the first stint would help with both performance and tyre degradation, which would be more of an advantage in the early laps because the car is at its heaviest with fuel.

Speaking about the impact of the changes to tyre pressure checking, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said: "If it was going to be an issue you would see it at the start of the race you would think. But at least it stops the tin foil [heaters] on the brake drums that we saw sometimes.

"It is just a way of clearing things up again to stop all the teams investing. While I understand it is performance, it is not going to make the racing any better and it is not where you want the teams to be spending any money."

F1 teams have faced some headaches with degradation this weekend, especially with the ultrasoft tyre in the hot conditions that were experienced on Saturday.

However, the situation should be improved in the race with F1 being greeted by much cooler weather on Sunday and there remaining the possibility of rain.

Live telemetry

With F1 now looking at clamping down on the behaviour of tyre blanket 'boosting' – where teams temporarily heat rubber to a very high temperature – Hembery added that Pirelli was still looking at live telemetry to better monitor what outfits are up to.

"There are other areas we are looking at," he said. "Going forward to next year, the ideal situation would be to have an FIA/Pirelli feed on pressures, so we have a running monitor on the pressures all the time.

"It is no shock. That is what you have on your normal road car and that is what we would like to see in F1."

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