Tyre Strategy Was at the Forefront of the Action at the Monaco Grand Prix

VETTEL CLAIMS MONACO VICTORY AFTER THRILLING THREE-WAY FIGHT

Monaco, May 29th 2011 - Tyre strategy was at the forefront of the action at the Monaco Grand Prix, with a three-way fight between Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Jenson Button (McLaren), who were separated by less than a second with only 15 laps to go. Such was the pace of the leading trio that they pulled away from the fourth-placed man by nearly a minute.

The top three all employed completely different race strategies: Vettel stopped once, moving from the PZero Red supersofts to the PZero Yellow softs on lap 16 and making his final set of soft tyres last for 56 laps. Alonso chose a two-stop strategy, starting on the supersoft before moving onto two sets of soft tyres, with his last stop on lap 34. Button, meanwhile, went for a sprint strategy by taking three stops. While there was a wide diversity of strategies, the top three remained in close contact at a race where Pirelli’s supersoft was making its competition debut.

As the race entered its final 10 laps, the leading trio was still very close in a thrilling fight for supremacy, before an accident caused a safety car period followed by a red flag with just six laps left to go. As the rules allow teams to work on the cars during a suspended race, the drivers were allowed to change tyres before the race resumed in a final sprint to the finish.

The top three all chose Pirelli’s PZero Red supersoft tyres for the run to the flag, which ended with Vettel’s first win in Monaco. It was Pirelli’s first victory in Monaco since the 1957 race, which was won by Juan Manuel Fangio and Maserati.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said: “We were privileged to see one of the closest ever battles for victory in Monaco: the most prestigious race of the year. The top three used completely different tyre strategies but came out more or less together, which is exactly what we were aiming for at the start of the year. It’s great to see the tyre strategy forming such a prominent part of the action; giving us a fascinating battle for the lead where any of the top three drivers would have been very deserving winners. Had it not been for the red flag in the closing stages, I’m sure that their fight would have continued all the way to the very end. It was also great to see some of the other drivers scoring points such as Kobayashi, Sutil, Buemi and Barrichello. With the fastest-ever qualifying lap of Monaco yesterday and some drivers going for more than 50 laps on the PZero Yellow today, Pirelli has supplied both performance and adaptability with this year’s Formula One tyres.”

PIT STOP SUMMARY – 2011 MONACO GRAND PRIX

Vettel: SSU SN (16) SSU (72) 1 Alonso: SSU SN (17) SN (34) SSU (72) 2 Button: SSU SSU (15) SSU (33) SN (48) SN (72) 3 Webber: SSU SN (16) SU (55) SSU (72) 2 Kobayashi: SN SSN (34) SSU (72) 1 Hamilton: SN SSU (22) DT (43) SN (49) SSU (72) 3 Sutil: SN SSU (34) SSU (68) 2 Heidfeld: SN SSN (33) SSU (69) SSU (72) 2 Barrichello: SSN SN (32) SSU (68) SSU (72) 2 Buemi: SN SN (33) SSU (62) SSU (72) 2 Rosberg: SSU SN (15) SN (33) SSU (53) SSU (72) 3 Di Resta: SSU SSU (20) DT (27) SN (32) SSU (72) 3 Trulli: SSN SSU (24) SN (46) SSU (72) 2 Kovalainen: SSN SN (19) SN (52) SSU (72) 2 D’Ambrosio: SN SSN (33) SN (63) SN (72) 2 Liuzzi: SN SSN (32) SSN (72) 1 Karthikeyan: SSN SN (25) SSN (33) SN (72) 2 Maldonado: SSU SN (25) SSU (54) SN (72) 2 Petrov: SSN SN (28) 1 NC Alguersuari: SN SN (29) SSN (56) 2 NC Massa: SSU SN (26) 1 NC Schumacher: SSU SSU (12) 1 NC Glock: SSN SN (22) 1 NC

The first column denotes the tyres the driver started the race on.

S = Soft compound SS = Super Soft compound N = New compound U = Used compound DT = Drive through NC = Not classified

Italics denote the tyre change made during the suspended race. It is not counted in the total of pit stops.

The last column gives the total amount of pit stops.

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VETTEL AND PZERO RED SUPERSOFT SET FASTEST EVER POLE LAP OF MONACO

Monaco, 28th May 2011 - The 3.340-kilometres Monaco Grand Prix circuit is arguably the most famous circuit in the world, and today Pirelli established a new benchmark by setting the fastest-ever lap during final qualifying the 68-year history of the race.

Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel set a fastest time of 1m13.556s using the PZero Red supersoft tyre, which is making its debut in Monaco. The German’s average speed on his qualifying lap was 163.467kph. Pirelli’s PZero Red supersoft is around a second per lap quicker than the harder PZero Yellow soft tyre around the streets of Monaco.

The previous fastest qualifying lap of Monaco was set by Red Bull’s Mark Webber last year, with a pole time of 1m13.826s. Earlier this morning, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was quickest in the final free practice session prior to qualifying.

The quickest-ever lap of Monaco was actually set by Kimi Raikkonen during Q2 in 2006 with a time of 1m13.532s: two-hundredths of a second faster than Vettel’s time today. However the rules back then meant that only the Q3 lap counted for the final grid position.

Weather conditions remained dry and warm in Monaco for the most crucial qualifying session of the year, as overtaking is so difficult through the tight confines of the twisty streets. Ambient temperature was 24 degrees centigrade, while track temperature peaked at 46 degrees. Vettel used the PZero Yellow soft tyres for Q1 and then moved onto the PZero Red supersofts during Q2 and Q3. However the final qualifying session was stopped with two and half minutes to go, following a big accident for Sauber driver Sergio Pérez at the exit of the tunnel.

After a delay of about half an hour, the remaining nine cars in Q3 completed the session with one timed lap but none of the drivers were able to improve on their times and Vettel sealed his first pole in Monaco: his fifth of the year and the 20th of his career.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said: “First and foremost, our thoughts are with Sergio Pérez. We wish him a very swift recovery and the fact that we heard he was conscious and talking so soon after such a big accident is a great testimony to the safety standards that operate in Formula One these days. As for the action on the track, it’s going to be very interesting to see which strategies the teams choose to adopt tomorrow. The performance as well as the durability of our PZero Red supersoft tyres have been excellent so far as we expected, and we’re very proud to have set the fastest lap in final qualifying of the iconic Monaco circuit to date with this new compound.”

THE MONACO GRAND PRIX FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW

Monte Carlo, May 25th 2011

Pirelli brings another splash of colour to Monte Carlo’s famous harbour this weekend with the debut of the new supersoft tyres, known as the PZero Red. These tyres are designed to be ideally suited to the tight and twisty streets of the Principality, with the drivers having their first chance to try out the new rubber tomorrow.

THE TRACK

The legendary Monaco circuit is 3340 metres long, with the 78-lap grand prix witnessing the debut of Pirelli’s new PZero Red supersoft tyre to guarantee maximum grip over the slippery asphalt, which is open to normal road traffic in the evenings. This is just one of the factors that makes the grip level so hard to predict.

Sainte Devote: The cars stand on the brakes for the first corner of the lap, losing 160kph in 100 metres. The continuous heavy use of the brakes in Monaco generate extremely high temperatures which are also felt in the tyres, increasing the stress caused by heat on the tyre as a whole.

There is a big compression as the cars exit Casino Square that can destabilize the car under braking.

The Loew’s hairpin, as it is still known, is the slowest corner of the season, taken at just 47kph. Due to the low speed there is no aerodynamic downforce, so the full steering lock means that the front-right tyre is doing all the work when it comes to the change of direction.

Tabac, following the famous tunnel, is one of the hardest parts of the circuit with a tight line and no escape road. The cars reach around 160kph here, developing a lateral load of 3.31G.

It’s another tight entry to the first corner at the Swimming Pool complex. The cars hit the kerbs at more than 200kph, generating a lateral force of 3.65G.

The last part of the lap is vital for a clean run, where the drivers have to thread their cars carefully between guardrails apply the brakes while cornering at the same time. It’s back on the gas at Anthony Noghes and then up through second and third gears to unleash the full power of the engine on the start-finish straight for another lap…

THE HOSPITALITY

The Monaco Grand Prix adopts a different format to everywhere else, with free practice taking place on Thursday and no running on Friday. With the on-track action taking place one day earlier, this only increases the pressure on all the teams to set up their hospitality facilities in time, less than three days after leaving Barcelona, 400 kilometres to the south of Monaco.

Pirelli is no exception, with the team’s new carbon black motorhome taking shape at the end of the harbour. The motorhome made its debut at the Turkish Grand Prix in early May, having been built from new in Germany since the start of the year.

The Pirelli motorhome is based on two expanding trailer units, with a hospitality area in between. The left hand trailer unit contains the engineers’ offices on the upper deck, plus an office for Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Racing Manager. Downstairs there is storage and a fully- equipped kitchen, where Pirelli’s catering service can produce up to 150 meals daily, with a menu that ranges from lobster to pasta.

The right hand trailer unit contains the office of Paul Hembery – Pirelli’s motorsport director – on the upper deck, plus a meeting room as well as the PR and marketing office. Below there is security and IT, as well as more storage.

The catering area can seat about 50 people at a time; with the table place mats based on old Pirelli posters from the 1950 and 1960s that advertise the company’s most famous products from the past such as the ‘Stelvio’ tyre. On the walls there are photos from the Pirelli calendar over the years, and even the lampshades are based on tyres.

It takes a team of four people less than 24 hours to put up the new motorhome, which goes constantly from race to race during the European season but is based at Pirelli’s Formula One facility in the United Kingdom on the rare occasions it is not travelling.

About the only thing that the new Pirelli motorhome does not yet have is a name – so please forward any suggestions to the Pirelli F1 media team.

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For further information please contact: Alexandra Schieren +33 607 03 69 03 [email protected] Anthony Peacock +44 7765 896 930 [email protected] ** Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 684 4307 [email protected] (Head of Product and Motorsport Communications)

Pirelli Tyre Press Office Tel. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com

2011 MONACO GRAND PRIX

PIRELLI’S NEW SUPERSOFT TO MAKE ITS MARK ON THE PRINCIPALITY

Milan, May 23rd 2011

WHAT’S THE STORY?

Pirelli heads immediately from one of the quicker tracks seen on the calendar to the very slowest, but at the same time definitely the most glamorous: Monaco. The tight and twisty confines of the Principality are ideal territory for Pirelli’s PZero Red supersoft tyre, which makes its debut in Monaco. For the first time, by extension, it is also twinned with the PZero Yellow soft tyre – which becomes the ‘prime’ nomination after five grands prix as the ‘option’. The PZero Red supersoft is one of the most extreme tyres in Pirelli’s range. While not quite a qualifying tyre, it still provides the ultimate performance offered by any of the PZero line-up. One of its characteristics is the remarkably short warm-up time, meaning that all the performance is available right from the beginning, but its extremely soft compound consistency means that it has an anticipated range of fewer than 10 laps: even less at the beginning of a race when the cars are full of approximately 200 litres of fuel. With the Monaco street circuit characterised by few overtaking opportunities, qualifying is of crucial importance. However, with very little run-off, incidents and interruptions are common. Weather conditions can also vary, making Monaco one of the most unpredictable and exciting events of the year. In the past there have been a number of surprise winners, and the combination of tyres nominated by Pirelli this year give teams scope to improve their prospects through some creative strategies, as has already seen at the previous round in Barcelona.

PIRELLI’S MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR SAYS:

Paul Hembery: “Monaco is a fantastic race that makes no sense on the one hand as it’s so different from everywhere else, but it’s still the jewel in the crown of the calendar on the other. We’re very excited to see our PZero Red supersoft tyres making their debut around the twisty streets this weekend, although this type of circuit will obviously be a completely new experience as we’ve only tested on permanent tracks. The supersoft rubber is designed to provide outstanding performance over a short period of time but this comes at the price of durability, so all the teams will have to consider their strategies carefully. Getting it right will make the difference between winning and losing. For longer runs, the PZero Yellow has already proven itself to be a reliable and popular product so far this year, contributing to extremely close racing while providing the drivers with all the confidence they need to push to the maximum. We said from the start that we wanted to give racing back to the racers, and we’re hoping very much that Monaco will be a classic example of this.”

THE MEN BEHIND THE STEERING WHEEL SAY:

Jarno Trulli (Team Lotus): “Monaco is a very special experience for everyone who takes part. It’s one of the most exciting events in the whole year and whether you’re driving or just walking around, you can almost breathe in how exciting it is. Every driver in the world wants to win in Monaco and I count myself very fortunate to have done so in 2004, but you’re under so much pressure it can be difficult to get time to think and concentrate on the actual race. Getting in a good lap is also a challenge, but if you can manage the traffic it’s very satisfying. The tyres will obviously play a big part. We've already seen this season how important it is to get your tyre strategy right and at a circuit like Monaco where aero performance doesn't play such a crucial role I think the performance of the tyres will be even more critical.”

TECHNICAL NOTES AND TYRE CHOICES SO FAR:

* Monaco is the slowest race of the year, with a track surface that evolves over the course of the weekend. With the streets open to traffic not only before the race but also during the evenings throughout the grand prix weekend, the amount of mechanical grip is constantly changing and very hard to predict.

* The legendary Ayrton Senna (who contested his first grand prix with Pirelli) is the most successful driver at Monaco with a total of six race wins - five of them consecutive - while McLaren is the most successful constructor with 15 wins: most recently in 2007 with Fernando Alonso.

* Monaco holds the record for being the race with the fewest number of pit stops in recent history: in 1992 there were just two pit stops throughout the entire race, with Martin Brundle (Benetton-Ford) stopping on lap 17 and Nigel Mansell (Williams-Renault) stopping on lap 71. It was also the race that had the fewest finishers, when just four drivers were classified in 1966.

THE TYRE CHOICES SO FAR:

PZero Red PZero Yellow PZero White PZero Silver Australia Soft Hard Malaysia Soft Hard China Soft Hard Turkey Soft Hard Spain Soft Hard Monaco Super Soft Soft

PIRELLI IN MONACO:

* Pirelli, the world leader in Ultra High Performance tyres, is one of the best-selling tyre brands in Monaco due to the extremely high number of supercars that are registered there. There are more owners of Lamborghinis in Monaco (which use Pirelli PZero tyres as original equipment) per head of the population than in any other country.

* Monaco was the location for the shooting of the second-ever Pirelli calendar, produced in 1965. Englishman Brian Duffy was the photographer: an icon of the Swinging Sixties, who also shot album covers for David Bowie.

* Pirelli has a huge history of success at the Monte Carlo Rally, having won the event 13 times. Finn Mikko Hirvonen claimed the last event with Pirelli for Ford in 2010. Pirelli’s last Formula One victory in Monaco was in 1957, thanks to Juan Manuel Fangio driving a Maserati 250F.

For further information please contact:

Alexandra Schieren +33 607 03 69 03 [email protected] Anthony Peacock +44 7765 896 930 [email protected] ** Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 684 4307 [email protected] (Head of Product and Motorsport Communications)

Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com