Pirelli working on ‘smart tyres’ for F1

Pirelli want to introduce the highly effective ‘smart tyres’ in F1, one that will give teams real time data on tyre performance.

F1’s exclusive tyre supplier does have smart tyres for road vehicles but will require some time to develop the same for F1.

“We know that smart tyres are the future. A tyre that is talking to the car is something that we’ve studied for many years. So we are developing sensors and so on.

“But the usage of it inside a motorsport tyre, especially in a Formula 1 tyre where you have forces, accelerations, energy and temperature that are much higher than on a road car, it is something that we need to analyse before introducing.” Pirelli’s sporting director, Marie Isola said as quoted by Racefans

With the smart tyres, F1 teams would get real time information about air pressure, temperature, level of grip etc. The tyres will help fans and teams get more insights into tyre data.

“All the data we collect in Formula One, considering the level of detail that you have in Formula One, is more than relevant for road cars.

“We talk about air pressure, temperature is something they already measure, level of grip, this kind of stuff. This is something that if we are able to collect this data in Formula One, considering the level of detail here, for sure this is something that is really useful for road cars.” Isola said.

Pirelli and F1 will have to ensure that there is no data leakage between teams and that the data is largely used to prevent any major tyre damage.

“We need to pay attention on the commercial side, not to disclose any confidential information,” Isola said

“But we can have useful information also to entertain spectators.

“I believe that the main target is technical. It is to have something that is good for safety, because when you introduce this kind of sensor in a road car it is mainly for safety, to have warning if the tyre is too worn or you are running at too high speed or the level of grip of the road is different.

“So all this is information that is useful in a road car. And if you can collect on a motorsport tyre it is even more interesting.” he added.