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. *** Follow us on Twitter @ Pirelli_Media or Facebook on www.facebook.com/Pirelli 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.