Pirelli left Hockenheim satisfied by the performance of their Cincurato range of wet tyres in the German Grand Prix.
Sunday’s race was the first session in 2019 to be fully wet and saw both the extreme wet and the intermediates put to the test.
In recent years drivers have complained about the grip level of the Pirelli wets, but motorsport chief Mario Isola does think the concerns have been addressed.
“When it was wet, the intermediate tyres proved their versatility in a wide range of conditions,” he said.
“That was crucial as none of the drivers had experienced any proper running on the wet-weather tyres, so there was no real basis on which to judge the crossover points.
“Now we have collected a lot of data on the intermediate.”
Also Read:
- Hockenheim thriller puts Liberty in a corner over German GP future
- Vettel: F1 must fix ‘key elements’ to replicate German GP action regularly
Also important was strategy as Max Verstappen made five pit-stops en route to victory with a total of 78 being made at Hockenheim on the day.
Indeed, the ever-changing conditions which resulted in Mercedes’ comical pit-stop with Lewis Hamilton where they initially brought out slicks before switching to intermediates highlighted the challenge teams were facing.
“For the strategists, this was one of the hardest races of the year to call,” Isola commented.
“They had to constantly anticipate and react to rapidly changing circumstances, both when it came to judging the grip and maximising the opportunities presented by all the Safety Cars.
“On top of that, the conditions changed a lot from sector to sector.
“As a result though, strategy made a real difference this weekend, especially when it came to working out when to make the final move to slick tyres for the last stint.
“The three drivers on the podium, in particular, took full advantage of the capabilities of the soft tyre on a drying track at the end of a thrilling and unpredictable race.”