Tyre pressure for Pirelli in Hungary

Pirelli's new tyres will face a fiery challenge in Budapest with on-track temperatures expected to soar above 50°C at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

According to a Daily Mail report in London, Formula One teams will be running the redesigned rubber in anger for the first time at the Hungaroring in the hope that the trouble-free testing sessions at Silverstone last week mean Pirelli has finally tackled its issues. The beleaguered Italian tyre manufacturer has had to revert to last season's Kevlar internal construction following a series of heart-stopping high-speed blow-outs during last month's British Grand Prix - failures which came close to being red flagged by concerned FIA race director Charlie Whiting.

However, the softer tread compounds, brought in for 2013, remain and all eyes will be on how Pirelli's tyres cope with the punishing conditions as temperatures peak during Sunday's race.

Pirelli originally planned to bring their medium and hard compounds to Hungary but, after complaints from some teams, most notably Lotus, they opted for soft and medium.

Most teams will be aiming for a two-stop race, but the high temperatures could result in their having to revise strategies on a circuit where it is notoriously difficult to overtake.

Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery acknowledged that this weekend would provide a stern test for the tyres, even though the average speed at the Hungaroring is one of the lowest on the Formula One calendar.

"Hungary will be the first event for our latest specification tyres," said Hembery. "These tyres were tried out by the teams at Silverstone during the young driver test. Now they get to use them in competition for the first time."

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, one of the drivers who had a tyre blow-out in the British Grand Prix, said Pirelli had taken a step in the right direction after testing the tyres at Silverstone last week.

The Brazilian, who was quite vocal in suggesting a boycott of the German Grand Prix should any further failures have occurred, said: "It seems to me these tyres work better, at least compared with what we experienced during the race at Silverstone."