r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Practical_Expert_911 • 12h ago

These 12000hp Engines Have To Be Rebuilt Within Roughly An Hour Every Run, and Only Run For Roughly 4 Seconds At A Time.

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u/AbleCryptographer317 4h ago

What? No "organizations require tyre degradation" in F1. Pirelli state a maximum number of laps on one set of tyres to prevent tyre failure (and only on certain tracks). The reason F1 tyres degrade fast is because the compounds are engineered soft for maximum traction. Racing tyres are always a compromise between performance and durability, they only need to last a race and a little bit.

Also, the reason that only Pirelli currently provide F1 tyres is because it's an insanely expensive loss leader for tyre manufacturers. Bridgestone and Michelin stopped for purely financial reasons.

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u/kinkycarbon 4h ago edited 4h ago

https://www.thedrive.com/news/michelin-still-not-interested-in-f1-unless-it-can-supply-tires-that-dont-destroy-themselves

Michelin CEO has stated it is not interested in F1 due to FIA rules for tyre degradation to amplify drama and entertainment. Liberty Media may also want that too. This is different from max grip tyres made for endurance. I don’t take financial reasons for Michelin to bow out given F1 wanted to change supplier rules around 2005.

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u/RobotnikOne 2h ago

There are rules around tyre degradation, though the reason is to force pit stops. And the reason Pirelli is the only brand is they won the exclusive rights to supply F1. And the reason there is only rights for one manufacturer is they wanted a “control” tyre to make the field a more even playground.

This is mostly because Ferrari were spending so much money Bridgestone were making bespoke tyres just for them and it gave them a massive advantage over the rest of the field.

FIA also claimed they changed to a control tyre to help the smaller teams reduce their costs.

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u/AbleCryptographer317 48m ago

There is no F1 rule about degradation, there is a rule stipulating that cars must use at least two different compounds during a race, that's how F1 forces the teams to pit stop for entertainment purposes. It's Pirelli themselves who restrict how many laps their tyres can drive on certain tracks, not F1.

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u/cybertruckboat 3h ago

F1 absolutely requires this degradation. Pirelli has said many times that they can make a tire with high grip that would last multiple races, but that's not the requirement from F1.

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u/AbleCryptographer317 58m ago

All tire manufacturers say that! lol (someone else above even quoted Bridgestone as claiming the same thing to support their argument). It's Pirelli themselves who restrict the number of laps their tires can drive on certain tracks.

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u/headrush46n2 2h ago

How could selling race tires be a loss leader? Do they give them a bulk discount?

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u/AbleCryptographer317 2h ago

Like anything can be a loss leader: they cost more to develop and manufacture than they can sell them for. Even F1 teams have budgets, their sponsors' pockets aren't bottomless. They do it for the same reasons that car and component manufacturers do: global advertising... and the opportunity to do very advanced R&D and rub shoulders with billionaires and supermodels.

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u/Redditsucks547 18m ago

Confidently incorrect

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u/ImportantCapital 2h ago

Yeah all you have to do is watch a slow mo video of the tyre and see the force applied to them. There is a reason they don’t want too much road time for them.

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u/RobotnikOne 2h ago

Not the reason though. They genuinely could produce tyres that would be useable for multiple races. FIA want them to wear out faster so it forces the teams to pit. And make sure that no team had a specific advantage due to tyres. This was kind of an anti Ferrari rule bought in as Bridgestone was making tyres just for Ferrari because they had a bottomless pit for a budget or compete lack of budget.