F1 Tyres Discussion Thread

[dr-baker]

...Because I think we need it, all in one place.

And let's start with, let's not go back to Bridgestone tyres. They're too soft, and there is a demand to revert to a harder compound (at least on the front)! They need to be changed on safety grounds! The winner is complaining about them, so he must have a point!

Of course, it's a reference to Jorge Lorenzo and MotoGP (here: Autosport):

"The front tyre was probably too soft," he said when asked about the spate of crashes that took place in the early laps of the race.

"In every race we are trying to ask Bridgestone to give us harder compounds on the front but for the moment it's not arriving.

"Hopefully for the next tracks it will arrive because in some braking zones it's a little bit dangerous."

So it is not just a problem affecting Pirelli and F1...

[go_Rubens]

People having problems elsewhere, huh? Who'd have thought?

[dinizintheoven]

Bridgestone responds...

[Alextrax52]

Now that Pirelli have been forced to give up their tire changes this is what they are now predicting

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108115

[go_Rubens]

Now that Pirelli have been forced to give up their tire changes this is what they are now predicting

I wanted Pirelli to give up the tyre changes anyway. If Red Bull can't push at their hardest, well then, whatcha gonna' do about it, Red Bull?

One thing I've noticed is that Red Bull were the only ones complaining about tyre safety, or were there other complaints as well?

[James1978]

I get the feeling Paul Hembery has the most thankless job of anyone currently involved in F1.......

[Salamander]

I get the feeling Paul Hembery has the most thankless job of anyone currently involved in F1.......

Me too. It's a shame really, because IMO he does a very good job, and all he gets is shite for it.

[Jonny83]

I get the feeling Paul Hembery has the most thankless job of anyone currently involved in F1.......

He doesn't help himself with some of his quotes though.

"We had the most exciting Melbourne in years. Do you want us to make boring races?"

It's not your job to "make" the races boring or exciting. It's to make the black round things that connect the wheels to the track.

"Has Niki forgotten how boring the races used to be?"

Erm....I actually didn't find the races boring, you know, resulting in it being my favourite sport since childhood and everything?

There's also something else in a print version of Autosport I read (so can't copy & paste off the web) where he was basically responding to criticisms and specifically those from Webber, and he said something condescending like "well I'm afraid all sports have had to become 'a bit WWF' to gain viewers". Well apart from cricket with their T20 stuff (crucially leaving test matches untouched for those who enjoy it) I can't think of any major worldwide sport that has changed itself so drastically in the name of "casual viewers". No other sport that beats itself up for having a "boring" event.

He's in an unenviable position absolutely, but all he has to say is "We delivered the tyres that F1 asked for." End of. Leave subjective proclamations about how "boring" our fantastic sport apparently used to be out of it.

Plus he does seem to hog the limelight far more than Dupasquier or, the bloke who headed Bridgestone whos name I can't even remember (sort of proving my point).

So while Pirelli may not be at fault for the awful idea to replicate a one off race in 2010 at every race, they were a willing participant and give them credit for nothing other than the following:

Winning the 1950 championship.
Winning the 1951 championship.
Winning the 1952 championship.
Winning the 1953 championship.
Winning the 1957 championship.
Winning the 1985 French Grand Prix.
Winning the 1986 Mexican Grand Prix.
Winning the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix.
Pierluigi Martini qualifying third in a Minardi.
End.

FWIW I don't want spec Bridgestones either (although they were preferable). I don't want spec anything.

[go_Rubens]

FWIW I don't want spec Bridgestones either (although they were preferable). I don't want spec anything.

I agree with this. I mean, the whole tyre thing going on is just stupid and I am one who doesn't want anything changed about the tyres.

So, what I'd like to be able to say to the teams is, "Zark off and use the crap tyres they give you, for God's sake!"

[mario]

He's in an unenviable position absolutely, but all he has to say is "We delivered the tyres that F1 asked for." End of. Leave subjective proclamations about how "boring" our fantastic sport apparently used to be out of it.

Plus he does seem to hog the limelight far more than Dupasquier or, the bloke who headed Bridgestone whos name I can't even remember (sort of proving my point).

Pirelli made it clear that they were keen to use F1 to market themselves as aggressively as possible, so it is perhaps not surprising that they have thrust themselves into the limelight much more thoroughly than Bridgestone did.
Moreover, to a certain extent it seems that Pirelli are also keener to shape the way in which the media perceives them, because Bridgestone, who were relatively passive in that area, soon realised that they got no credit when the tyres performed as expected but all of the flak when they didn't, such as in the 2009 Australian GP (remember how the drivers ranted about how the super soft tyres were dangerous and unusable because of the way in which they degraded?). They've made it clear in the past that, if they were shifted into a Bridgestone like role where they were made irrelevant, then they would rather pull out than bear the cost of proving tyres for the teams and getting nothing back in return.

As to the wider aspect of commenting about how "boring" the sport was beforehand, it is possible that is Pirelli being leant on a bit by Bernie to continue with their current program of using rapidly degrading tyres to neutralise the effects on aero dependence on overtaking (or, rather, the lack of it) that occurred beforehand.

FWIW I don't want spec Bridgestones either (although they were preferable). I don't want spec anything.

I agree with this. I mean, the whole tyre thing going on is just stupid and I am one who doesn't want anything changed about the tyres.

So, what I'd like to be able to say to the teams is, "Zark off and use the crap tyres they give you, for God's sake!"

When you've got what is rumoured to be around $100 million worth of contracts riding on those negotiations, your tune may well change a bit. Pirelli are in a tricky situation, since they seem to be caught up in a political battle between Todt and Bernie over who gets the rights to negotiate tyre deals and are caught up in negotiations with the individual teams in F1, some of whom are baulking at the terms that Pirelli are asking for. It might be tempting to tell the teams what they can do with their complaints, but that could come back to bite you if a major team threw its political weight against you because of that.