Pirelli has released the details of its colour-coding system for its 2011 tyre compounds, in am attempt to help spectators minimizing their confusion about team's strategy within the race. According to Pirelli, there will be four slick compounds as well as two wet-weather tyres which have been designated with different coloured Pirelli's logos on the tyre side as follows:
WET - Orange
INTERMEDIATE - Light Blue
SUPERSOFT - Red
SOFT - Yellow
MEDIUM - White
HARD - Silver
Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery commented:
"We're very excited by the prospect of returning to Formula One for the first time in 20 years, and we're aiming to be a proactive and colourful partner in Formula One. So what better way to symbolise this than a brightly coloured selection of Pirelli logos to run on the sidewalls? These will enable both live and television audiences to tell at a glance who is on what compounds, which will be vital knowledge as tyres are set to form a key part of race strategy this year."
It is believed that coloring Pirelli's tyres is an attempt to minimize spectators confusion during a race about a team's strategy but it looks like that a spectator should be a real F1 expert bombarded with additional information concerning tyre coloring or the legal use of Drag Reduction System making him a real F1 expert apart from enjoying an F1 race.
Yet, testing has shown F1 has moved from one extreme to another: from rubber that lasts a whole race to tyres that need changing several times. Many believe that even 4 pit-stops will be required by each driver in order to finish the race safely and fast. The days of drivers completing almost an entire race distance on the softest tyres available, just like Sebastian Vettel did during the 2010 Italian Grand Prix seems to be an entirely history, but watching drivers entering the pits every 20 laps could make it evenly boring.
