https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wh...ings/10272654/
Why tyre balance is proving critical to F1 2022 performance swings
Formula 1 teams are finding that managing the balance between the front and rear tyres is proving critical for performance with the new generation of cars.
By: Jonathan Noble
May 3, 2022, 7:47 AM
With the new rule set still in its infancy, teams are still exploring how best to extract the most speed from the latest ground effect machinery.
While a lot of time has been spent up and down on the grid on trying to resolve porpoising issues, some outfits have started getting a proper understanding of what drives other key performance areas.
And one thing they are quickly finding is that the cars are especially sensitive if there is not a good balance between how the tyres are managed across both axles.
Both Red Bull and Ferrari, for example, believes that the performance swing between their cars at the Australian and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix owed everything to the tyres.
In Melbourne, Ferrari got the F1-75 in the perfect window, and Red Bull – in trying to protect the rears – ended up abusing its fronts and that left it adrift of its rival's pace.
At Imola, however, the tables were turned on the two teams. Red Bull hooked up its RB18 up perfectly, while Ferrari didn't manage to do so and, in the sprint, it was Charles Leclerc who suffered the most from front graining.
As Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said: "We were faster than Ferrari. We got the tyres in the right window and our complete execution, including finding the right balance in the car, was much better than in Australia.
"The difference wasn't that big. We were only one to two tenths faster in terms of pure pace. We just had better tyre management. What went wrong for us in Melbourne, happened to Ferrari this time. They suffered from graining much earlier than we did because of the balance in the car."
Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson believes that when teams show a great turn of speed in races, it's likely due to them hitting the sweet spot with the tyre temperatures.