Tyre chief rubs hands for new Formula One season Ferrari driver Felipe Massa of Brazil powers through the wet during the qualifying session for the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Picture: Paul Crock. NO more boring races. Lots more uncertainty. 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 today. "It's always good in sport when there is uncertainty," the motorsport supremo at Pirelli, Paul Hembrey, told the Sunday Herald Sun 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 compound and construction of its racing number for this year, technical tweaks that will translate directly into races with more variables for drivers and teams. Hembrey said the 2013 Pirelli tyres would require more pitstops and the potential for wildly differing race strategies, which both provide a better show for fans. The changes even mean the tyres are 2kg heavier for each set - 300g more for a front tyre, 700g for a rear - which means teams will have to tweak their cars. Looking to this 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 in 2012. Last year was 1-2 stops. This year will be 2-3," he said. He predicts the front-runners will all qualify and start on Pirelli's latest super-soft tyre, before switching to the medium compound that is also available to teams. "Wear is not really an issue," he said. 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," Hembrey said. 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.