For the start of the 2022 season, the maximum temperature that tyres can be heated before they are fitted to the cars has been reduced to 70 degrees Celsius.
Up until last year, the fronts could be heated to 100°C while the rears were allowed to be warmed to 80°C.
The shift in temperatures has triggered some warm-up issues for drivers when coming out of the pits, and in races has made the undercut less effective as the rubber is not immediately at its fastest for the first corners.
But the driver headaches could be amplified dramatically in the kind of mixed conditions that are expected for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Choosing the right moment to switch from intermediates to slicks could become especially tricky as the dry tyres may not be able to get up to the right operating temperatures when it is slightly damp.
And if drivers miss the window and cannot get enough warmth into the rubber, then it could push the tyre completely out of its operating window and result in an inability to get up to speed.
Williams’ head of vehicle performance Dave Robson says the experience of teams in the damp but drying qualifying session was an eye-opener as many drivers struggled.
“It was the first time we’ve really run slicks in that crossover period, and for sure the 70°C blanket temperatures certainly made that phase more difficult,” he explained. “There’s much less forgiveness.
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03, Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“If it rains [in the race] and you gamble and fit the slick too early, then you will just spiral into a whole world of misery much more quickly than previous years, where at least you had a sporting chance from there. It can be difficult to time and is so different to previous years.”
Robson says that getting heat into the tyres could take several laps, and he thinks the colder tyres out of the pits may have explained why so many drivers spun off in qualifying.
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