Dumb question about F1 tires
 

Even way back when I first saw Nigel Mansell do it I couldn't figure this out,
you put on rain tires, you work hard to warm them up for grip, then next thing
the driver does is look for puddles to drive through.

When a dry line appears, heat and friction cause the tires exceed their optimal working temperature and they start to spit chunks of rubber. The driver is obliged to find water to keep them cool.

The window for the right temperature is narrow. If they are driving in damp to a little rain, that tires function as designed. Once the dry line appears, they can and will overheat, unless the driver seeks out some wet areas of the track.

Thanks for clarifying this Guys. I always thought they were intentionally driving through puddles to soak the track marshals and close up spectators.

Modern F1 tires, and the rules pertaining to their use, have been carefully designed to introduce drama and "strategy" into what, for many fans, would be an even more boring "parade" without them. The current rules, and tires, force teams to stop and, at times, run the less optimal tire. The tires are designed to degrade very quickly, forcing drivers to "manage" them throughout the stint. This slows the faster cars and provides some whisper of hope for the less well funded teams to get lucky through tire strategy, timing of pit stops, and pit stop mistakes. If they provided tires that could go the entire race (many years ago they did) and let the teams choose which ones they liked, with no mandate to use the ones they don't, it would essentially be a drag race to the first corner. Like it often used to be. This whole tire thing, including the wets and inters, has been very carefully crafted to provide some potential for excitement. It works, witness last year, one of the most competitive in series history.

Other top series, such as WEC, provide a number of tire compounds as well. However, no team is compelled to run any more than the compounds they choose. Plus, they can mix and match corner to corner on the car, whatever they like. They don't rely upon contrived tire rules and tires designed to degrade quickly. They do, however, rely on "balance of performance", adjusting intake restrictors and weights specific to any make over the course of the year. A different way to artificially invoke "parity". Either does the job, tires or balance of performance, and we've seen the closest racing in either series in years. I'm just kind of philosophically opposed to either but, then again, I grew up in an era with neither. The racing is much better today.