According to the rules, each driver can use 10 sets of dry-weather tyres and 7 sets of wet-weather tyres on a Grand Prix weekend. Whereas a dry-weather tyre – depending on the rubber compound – can withstand distances of between 80 and 200 kilometres, a wet-weather tyre can be used to drive the entire race distance under correspondingly wet conditions.

The optimum temperature for a dry-weather tyre lies between 70 and 95 degrees Celsius, a wet-weather tyre reaches its best performance at temperatures between 40 and 50 degrees. The different types of tyre mean that variable factors in Formula 1 are practically infinite. Thus tyre selection is dependent on the surface and layout of each particular race track. At the Malaysian Grand Prix held on the Sepang International Circuit, for example, tyre wear is in the medium range, because there are hardly any tight corners where, at the expense of the tyres, cars have to brake hard to drop from high speeds before entering them. The majority of teams will plan for two pit stops – and hope that the notorious monsoon rains don’t turn up to spoil everything.

To keep pressure constant under the most exacting of loads, the tyres are filled with nitrogen instead of air. Because they are a decisive factor in terms of race car performance, their development results from a close co-operation between the teams and tyre manufacturers. The status assigned by the BMW WilliamsF1 Team to tyre development is explained by Frank Williams: “Generally, during pre-season testing, we will use three cars concurrently – one permanently and solely dealing with the development of new tyres.”

Whereas race tyres provide their maximum performance through absolutely precise adaptation to each particular race track and weather conditions, normal road tyres have to give their best under the most varying of conditions. The list of requirements is long and covers everything from abrasion resistance, aquaplaning protection and low rolling resistance to damage insensitivity. Tyre developers, therefore, have to target many conflicts. For example, one-sided optimisation of the rubber compound in terms of grip on wet surfaces brings with it a higher rolling resistance. Significant progress has been achieved through the use of new compounds.

“It’s just a pity,“ according to Dr. Hartmuth Wolff from the Allianz Center for Technology (AZT), “that a lot of drivers fail to take advantage of this valuable gain in performance. Investigations have shown that the majority of drivers travel with the wrong inflation pressure – in other words, a deviation of more than 0.2 bar from the specified value. This exerts an extremely negative influence on driving properties and wear.”

Just how vital the correct tyre pressure is for performance can be seen in Formula 1: for the top drivers even a deviation of only 0.05 bar is noticeable, resulting in reduced steering precision and poorer grip.