Tyres; An intrinsic component of a Formula 1 car, and one with perhaps a lot more importance than the casual viewer might realise. No matter how revolutionary the design of the car, or excellent the set-up might be dialled in on a weekend at any given circuit, it all comes back to the rubber. The tyre is what connects the car to the surface of the track, and the grip can only be as good as what can be transmitted onto the asphalt. On top of this, the characteristics of the tyre such as its profile and stiffness impact the manner in which the car rides them. The main issue with the Pirelli tyres this season however is degradation and wear. In a bid to end the processional races that occurred with the fantastically durable, out-going Bridgestone tyres of 2010, the FIA dictated to Pirelli that their tyres must degrade more quickly and prevent teams running strategically to the end of a race on a single set of harder compound tyres. The target was two to three pit stops per race, to promote different phases of the race for different teams that would create more on-track action as different drivers had differing levels of performance beneath them. This however went completely against their reasons for banning refuelling, part of which was that the FIA wanted to eliminate people overtaking using strategic pit stops rather than doing it on the track.