Wind tunnel F1 tyres to blame for team struggles?

[John S]

McLaren & Sauber affected more with brand new car designs.     

The bigger the changes to last season the more the pain, according to Grandprix.com.

Pirelli's new 60 per cent scale wind tunnel tyres could be to blame for some teams' troubles in 2013, according to a technical expert.

Top team McLaren faltered badly over the winter in switching from the winning 2012 car to the new and uncompetitive MP4-28.

And it's been a similar story at Williams and Sauber, who last year were among the standouts of the midfield and are now conspicuously scrambling for pace in 2013.

Referring to McLaren and Sauber, Swiss newspaper Blick's technical expert Mike Hammer writes: "Both teams now believe they know where the problem lies.

"It has to do with the new Pirelli tyres. They are more angular than in 2012, and then deform differently in the corners, which has a great influence on the aerodynamics.

"Millimetres play a role, but the 60 per cent tyre for the wind tunnel models have led McLaren and Sauber astray," he added.

An unnamed McLaren engineer agreed: "They (the Pirelli tyre models) are much worse than last year."

Faced with the latest criticism, Pirelli's Paul Hembery insisted: "We are talking about eleven teams with eleven different wind tunnels.

"It is not easy to build good 60 per cent tyres," he added.

The theory would explain why teams who made significant changes over the winter have disproportionately suffered so far this season.

Grandprix.com, Sunday 21st April. 

[Jericoke]

It's the same tires for everyone.  Even if Pirelli did make a mistake, the 'mistake' was made fairly.

[F1fanaticBD]

Why does Red Bull get away with this sort of things, and those who make races better get caught?

[cosworth151]

It's the same tires for everyone.  Even if Pirelli did make a mistake, the 'mistake' was made fairly.

I think what John was saying is that the teams that made major changes this season were disproportionally effected by the error.

[F1fanaticBD]

This could certainly explain the sudden drop of pace from McLaren & Williams, that is very sad, because last year they made life really difficult for both Red Bull and Ferrari.