Formula One tyres

Forumula One tyres are a high performance racing tyre deisgned specifically for use by Formula One cars. The tyres have undergone significant changes throughout the history of Formula One, with different manufacturers and specifications used in the sport. A Formula One tyre is often designed to last for, at most, 200 kilometres and - like everything else on a F1 car is constructed to be as light and strong as possible. Even so, F1 tyres are far tougher than those on used on ordinary road cars, which may be able to last for 20,000 miles or more, but would not stand a chance against the rigours of F1 racing. Often different type of tyre compounds will be avaible to teams, such as hard and soft or special tyres for use in wet conditions.

HistoryEdit

Over the years Formula One tyres have evolved and changed many times. The first tyres used in Formula One during the 1950's were tall and thin and featured tread. Generally both the front and rear tyres were the same size. By the early 1960's tyres had become wider and flatter. In the mid 60's rear tyres started to become larger than the front tyres.

Slick racing tyres were first introduced during the 1971 Formula One season by Goodyear. This increased the size of the contact patch between tyre and track providing more grip than the treaded tyres used previously. During the 1970's the size difference between rear and front tyres increase with rear tyres becoming wider and front tyres smaller. In 1977 Michelin introduced the first radial tyre. This would eventualy become the normal tyre due to their construction giving them a more constant ride height which was important due to the ever increasing reliance of aerodynamics.

By the 1980's there were several different companies providing tyres which would lead to fierce competition to make the best tyre. Due to this special tyres for use in Qualifying began to appear. These tyres would give lots more grip but would only last for a short amount of time. During the 80's and early 1990's tyre shapes and sizes began to equal out again with both rear and front being similar sizes. In 1985 tyre blankets were used for the first time. These are blankets that are used to warm tyres up while they are in the pits and when the car is on the grid. Without this prior heating the tyres would take on avergae two laps before they got to their prime working temperature.

In 1998 grooved tyres were introduced with 3 grooves in the front tyres and 4 grooves in the rear tyres^. Between 1999 and 2008, regulations required the tyres to feature a minimum of four grooves in them, with the intention of slowing the cars down (a slick tyre, with no indentations, is best in dry conditions due to the larger contact patch). They could be no wider than 355 mm and 380 mm at the front and rear respectively and the maximum diameter was 660 mm (670 mm for wet tyre).

In 2005, tyre changes were disallowed in Formula One, therefore the compounds were harder as the tyres had to last the full race distance (around 300 km). Tyre changes were re-instated in 2006, following the dramatic and highly political 2005 United States Grand Prix.

Slick tyres were reintroduced at the beginning of the 2009 season along with aerodynamics changes intended to shift the balance towards mechanical grip in an attempt to increase overtaking.

ManufacturersEdit

Past manufacturers include:

• Avon
• Bridgestone
• Continental
• Dunlop
• Englebert
• Firestone
• Goodyear
• Michelin
• Pirelli

Tyre manufacturers by seasonEdit

Season	Manufacturer 1	Race(s) won	Manufacturer 2	Race(s) won	Manufacturer 3	Race(s) won	Manufacturer 4	Race(s) won	Manufacturer 5	Race(s) won	Manufacturer 6	Race(s) won
1950	Pirelli	6	Firestone	1	Dunlop	0	Englebert	0
1951	Pirelli	7	Firestone	1	Dunlop	0	Englebert	0
1952	Pirelli	6	Englebert	1	Firestone	1	Dunlop	0
1953	Pirelli	8	Firestone	1	Englebert	0	Dunlop	0
1954	Pirelli	4	Continental	4	Firestone	1	Englebert	0	Dunlop	0	Avon	0
1955	Continental	5	Englebert	1	Firestone	1	Pirelli	0	Dunlop	0
1956	Englebert	5	Pirelli	2	Firestone	1	Dunlop	0	Avon	0
1957	Pirelli	7	Firestone	1	Englebert	0	Dunlop	0	Avon	0
1958	Dunlop	7	Englebert	2	Continental	1	Firestone	1	Pirelli	0	Avon	0
1959	Dunlop	8	Firestone	1	Avon	0
1960	Dunlop	9	Firestone	1
1961	Dunlop	8
1962	Dunlop	9
1963	Dunlop	10
1964	Dunlop	10	Goodyear	0
1965	Dunlop	9	Goodyear	1
1966	Goodyear	4	Dunlop	3	Firestone	2
1967	Firestone	6	Goodyear	5	Dunlop	0
1968	Firestone	6	Goodyear	3	Dunlop	3
1969	Dunlop	6	Goodyear	3	Firestone	2
1970	Firestone	10	Dunlop	2	Goodyear	1
1971	Goodyear	7	Firestone	4
1972	Firestone	7	Goodyear	5
1973	Goodyear	15	Firestone	0
1974	Goodyear	15	Firestone	0
1975	Goodyear	14	Firestone	0
1976	Goodyear	16	Dunlop	0	Bridgestone	0
1977	Goodyear	17	Dunlop	0	Bridgestone	0	Michelin	0
1978	Goodyear	11	Michelin	5
1979	Goodyear	8	Michelin	7
1980	Goodyear	11	Michelin	3
1981	Michelin	13	Goodyear	2	Avon	0	Pirelli	0
1982	Goodyear	8	Michelin	8	Pirelli	0	Avon	0
1983	Michelin	9	Goodyear	6	Pirelli	0
1984	Michelin	14	Goodyear	2	Pirelli	0
1985	Goodyear	15	Pirelli	1
1986	Goodyear	15	Pirelli	1
1987	Goodyear	16
1988	Goodyear	16
1989	Goodyear	16	Pirelli	0
1990	Goodyear	16	Pirelli	0
1991	Goodyear	15	Pirelli	1
1992	Goodyear	16
1993	Goodyear	16
1994	Goodyear	16
1995	Goodyear	17
1996	Goodyear	16
1997	Goodyear	17	Bridgestone	0
1998	Bridgestone	9	Goodyear	7
1999	Bridgestone	16
2000	Bridgestone	17
2001	Bridgestone	13	Michelin	4
2002	Bridgestone	15	Michelin	2
2003	Bridgestone	9	Michelin	7
2004	Bridgestone	15	Michelin	3
2005	Michelin	18	Bridgestone	1
2006	Michelin	9	Bridgestone	9
2007	Bridgestone	17
2008	Bridgestone	18
2009	Bridgestone	17
2010	Bridgestone	19
2011	Pirelli	19
2012	Pirelli	20

RecordsEdit

Ordered by number of races won. These results are correct as of the end of the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Pos	Manufacturer	Seasons	Starts	Wins	Sole supplier	First win	Last win	World Championships
								Drivers	Constr.
1	Goodyear	1959 – 1998	494	368	113	1965 Mexican Grand Prix	1998 Italian Grand Prix	24	26
2	Bridgestone	1976 – 1977 1997 – 2010	244	175	116	1998 Australian Grand Prix	2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	11	11
3	Michelin	1977 – 1984 2001 – 2006	215	102	0	1978 Brazilian Grand Prix	2006 Japanese Grand Prix	6	4
4	Pirelli	1950 – 1958 1981 – 1986 1989 – 1991 2011 – Present	258	102	68	1950 British Grand Prix	2013 Brazilian Grand Prix	9	3
5	Dunlop	1950 – 1970 1976 – 1977	175	83	0	1958 Monaco Grand Prix	1970 Belgian Grand Prix	8	9
6	Firestone	1950 – 1975	121	49	11	1950 Indianapolis 500	1972 Italian Grand Prix	4	3
7	Continental	1954 – 1958	13	10	0	1954 French Grand Prix	1958 Argentine Grand Prix	2	0
8	Englebert	1950 – 1958	61	8	0	1955 Monaco Grand Prix	1958 British Grand Prix	2	0
9	Avon	1954 – 1958 1981 – 1982	29	0	0	N/A	N/A	0	0

ReferencesEdit

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One_tyres
2. http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/tires.html
3. http://www.f1technical.net/articles/1