A rubbery answer for F1 excitement

Those are the promises from the man who provides the racing rubber for Formula One as teams complete final preparations for the 2013 season opener at Albert Park.

"It's always good in sport when there is uncertainty," the motorsport supremo at Pirelli, Paul Hembrey, tells News Limited ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. "If we hadn't made some changes, there was the risk of starting the year with some very boring races. At the end of last year the teams were starting to be too conservative."

So the Italian tyre company has changed the compounding and construction of its racing number for his year, technical tweaks that will translate directly into races with more variables for drivers and teams.

Hembrey said the 2013 Pirelli tyres will mean more pitstops, and the potential for wildly differing race strategies, which both play to a better show for fans. The changes even mean the tyres are two kilograms heavier for each set - 300 grams for a front tyre, 700 for a rear - which means something else which means teams will have to tweak their cars.

Looking to Sunday afternoon at Albert Park, Hembrey predicts more pitstops and split strategies - with front-running teams changing tyres three times and midfield runners only stopping twice for fresh Pirellis. That means the race could build to a climax with a fast driver on a three-stop plan trying to run down a slower two-stop runner in the dying laps.

"Yes, that is definitely possible," he said. Looking at the overall pictures, Hembrey said teams will likely have to make one stop more than 2012. "Last year was 1-2 stops. This year will be 2-3," he said.

He predicts the front-runners will all qualifying and start on Pirelli's latest super-soft tyre, before switching to the medium compound also available to teams. "Wear is not really an issue. It's about thermal degradation - when the tyre overheats and they lose lap times."

Each driver has 11 sets of slick tyres for the AGP weekend, six in medium compound and five in super-soft. There are also wet-weather tyres in case Melbourne is hit by a downpour. "Albert Park is really a traction circuit. It's all about braking and traction. In the past we thought we couldn't bring the super-soft tyre, but we were a bit conservative."

He also believes the new-generation Pirelli tyres will close the field, as even teams - like Caterham and Marussia at the back end of the grid - will have enough downforce to get the rubber working well. And there is less need to warm them carefully before going flat-out.