Pirelli needs development time for 2014 tyre

SEOUL // Pirelli have urged Formula One teams to give them the tools to do their job rather than complaining their tyres are not good enough.

The Italian company was again in the line of fire at the weekend’s Korean Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber complaining about how quickly the tyres wore out.

McLaren-Mercedes’ Sergio Perez suffered an explosive delamination of his front-right tyre during the race at Yeongam that left debris strewn across the track and brought out the safety car.

The incident was reminiscent, in terms of drama, of the spate of blowouts earlier in the season at the British GP that triggered safety fears and forced Pirelli to return to last year’s structure with 2013 compounds.

Paul Hembery, the head of motorsport at Pirelli, told reporters there were no worries about the Perez incident but there was real concern about how the tyres would behave next year when the rules change significantly and a new V6 turbocharged engine is introduced.

A planned tyre test with McLaren at Austin, Texas, before next month’s US Grand Prix was cancelled after objections that it could favour the British marque, who are fighting Force India for fifth place overall in the constructors’ championship.

Pirelli have already conducted several tests, including a controversial “secret” one with Mercedes-GP in May, with teams providing older cars, but have repeatedly complained that they need to use more representative machinery.

“We’re running around in a 2010 car, developing tyres for the 2014 car, which nobody really knows what it’s going to look like,” said Hembery.

“Yet every time we even ask to test with a 2011 car we come up against opposition.

“Going forward, to do what we need to do, we need to have the ability to test and help everybody – drivers and teams. While nobody wants to think they’re going to get an advantage in testing, you can’t carry on going around in circles and decide to do nothing. Something has to change.”

Hembery said Pirelli want to reduce the amount of “marbles” – small chunks of tyre rubber – that litter the track and increase the mechanical strength of the compound. To do that, they need to test at certain tracks with suitable conditions and also need teams to help them.

Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit could offer one such opportunity after the season-ender there next month. Another option would be for Pirelli to test in Bahrain in January before two more scheduled pre-season tests there with all the teams in late February and early March.

“Ideally at the end of the season we’d like to see some use of these [2013] cars because they’re the best and the quickest we’ve got at the moment,” said Hembery.

“It would make sense to use them because for the majority of the teams they’ll be of little relevance anyway.”

Asked whether Formula One, which will allow some limited in-season testing next year after banning it previously to save teams money, was getting what it deserved, Hembery smiled wearily.

“To an extent, yes,” he replied.

sports@thenational.ae

EA Sports FC 25

Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

The Details

Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa

Rating: 2.5/5

SCHEDULE

Thursday, December 6
08.00-15.00 Technical scrutineering
15.00-17.00 Extra free practice

Friday, December 7
09.10-09.30 F4 free practice
09.40-10.00 F4 time trials
10.15-11.15 F1 free practice
14.00 F4 race 1
15.30 BRM F1 qualifying

Saturday, December 8
09.10-09.30 F4 free practice
09.40-10.00 F4 time trials
10.15-11.15 F1 free practice
14.00 F4 race 2
15.30 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

Cheeseburger%20ingredients

%3Cp%3EPrice%20for%20a%20single%20burger%20%C2%A30.44%3Cbr%3EPrice%20for%20a%20single%20bun%20%C2%A30.17%3Cbr%3EPrice%20for%20a%20single%20cheese%20slice%20%C2%A30.04%3Cbr%3EPrice%20for%2010g%20Gherkins%20is%20less%20than%20%C2%A30.01%3Cbr%3EPrice%20for%2010g%20ketchup%20is%20less%20than%20%C2%A30.01%20%3Cbr%3EPrice%20for%2010g%20mustard%20is%20less%20than%20%C2%A30.01%3Cbr%3EPrice%20for%2010g%20onions%20is%20less%20than%20%C2%A30.01%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETotal%2068p%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECredit%3A%20Meal%20Delivery%20Experts%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

The%20specs

%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.