I agree it is pretty damn cool.
Looks like a small detail, but it is so cool that setting tire pressure for the track, weather, car setup, everything else is this deep now. It's a big job getting it right in real racing, and our 9-layer dip* of a heat model means it is just as significant a challenge in game. Was more than a little pleased after we got the calibrations right and it worked so that a single heat model gives accurate results for how temperature builds up through all the important layers over time on the IndyCar both at Long Beach
and Indianapolis. There couldn't be more extreme ends of the spectrum on how heat flows through the wheel-brake-tire system and I think it adds a lot to the 'living tracks' experience.
You're right that it's totally against what we've learned from games for going on 25 years now where tire pressure is directly related to tire temperature. Yeah, they are connected but the whole system is much more involved than that.
What Jussi means about preheating is that when we preheat tires, it's like done in ovens as you might see used in FIA WEC. The whole tire and wheel come out at maybe 90°C throughout, but that's not where it will be after running a few laps. Tread might be 90, carcass interior 105, rim heated to 140 by the brakes, surface layer changing rapidly above and below tread core, etc. All that can make the inflation pressure fluctuate in unexpected ways until you run long enough for the whole system to stabilize.
*The layers: Ambient<->Flash<->Surface Layer<->Tread<->Carcass<->Inflation Air<->Rim<->'Well' air between rim and brake, which also vents to ambient<->Brake rotor