Where Tyres Fear to Tread
Of all the elements that go into a successful race campaign – driver, pit crew, engineers, aerodynamics, engines – the tyres are way up there with the most important. If your tyres aren’t working, you’re not going to get anywhere. We’ve seen drivers struggle because they stayed out too long, or because they’re suffering some serious graining, or even chunking.
However, if the car is hooked up and the tyres are working well, you can speed to an easy victory. As one of the most important components of a race strategy, it therefore follows that they are key to spicing up the action. Or so Bridgestone think.
At the moment, Bridgestone bring two compounds to each race, adjacent selections from the super-soft, soft, medium and hard tyres. This is only true of dry tyres, by the way, and that’s all we’re discussing here. A wet race demands enough strategy issues of it’s own that we won’t get into here.
Selecting two neighbouring compounds means the difference isn’t all that startling, and although we can just about tell the difference between a soft, single lap tyre compared to a hard, go longer tyre, it’s nothing to write home about. It doesn’t make the drivers rethink their strategies too much, in fact we’ve only had one major decision based on tyres this year (Hamilton in Turkey).
Now, Bridgestone are suggesting that for 2009, they might try selecting compounds two steps apart. So, for instance, they might turn up to Monaco with super-softs and medium tyres. This apparently, like I said earlier, is the key to spicing up the action.
Let’s all issue a collective groan right now.
There are four different parts to this story.
The End of the Last Great Tyre War
Since Michelin departed from the sport, there has been less mention of the word Bridgestone. Previously, it was always Bridgestone this, and Michelin that, and it was fascinating to watch the pair go at it on a race weekend. Now, as a single supplier series, how often does the name actually get mentioned? We talk about tyres incessantly, but does it really matter who makes them? Not much. Ever desperate to get a mention, perhaps this is their way of reaching the headlines.
Slicks
Next year, teams will be using slick tyres. For me, this is enough of a change to need at least a year before making any more adjustments. I’ve never seen slicks in action, and I want to know what all the fuss is about. If you go around changing other bits and pieces as well, it means I can’t get the whole story. The first thing they teach you in science class? Change one thing at a time.
Tyre warmers
Bridgestone lost the argument regarding the tyre warmers ban, and they’re probably still smarting from that. Changing compounds is the only thing they really have control over, and it’s no wonder they want to exert that power.
Strategy
Bridgestone themselves admit that if they take it too far, then all strategy variances will disappear. If the difference between compounds is too wide, there will be one clear way to win the race, and all the teams will choose that path. You’ll see pit stops at the same time, and similar lap times, and it would actually have an adverse effect on the action. There’s a fine line, which must be difficult for Bridgestone to balance on, and adjusting this is not going to be easy.
It’s Just an Idea
The last one is the most important, because the proposed claims are most likely going to end up one of those things that is tried out, doesn’t work, and is then retracted. I can only hope that it remains a proposal. Of all the things wrong with F1 right now, are tyres really a priority?
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:03 pmme said:
you could maybe argue that leaving hamilton out during the safety car in germany was a tyre decision.
not sure if bridgestone confirmed that was the case or not though? either way, i’m assuming it had some bearing on it.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:20 pmLynch said:
Oh, I would have thought that this was a “me” blog post… alas I was wrong!
note to spam guard: please Mr.Spam Guard don’t block my comment!
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 pmAlex Andronov said:
I have always thought that the two different tyres was a silly idea. Why not just bring all six (or whatever) tyres to the track. Everyone picks the one that works best for them and that’s it. I reckon in that situation somebody might say “we really love the Bridgestone super soft in these kind of conditions”.
Now everyone is forced to use a sub optimal tyre for a bit of the race, and so the most common comment you hear is “we didn’t really like those kind of tyres, we tried to avoid using them”. That doesn’t sound like good advertising to me.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 pmChristine said:
Why alas?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:00 pmChristine said:
That is a very good point. I guess there’s always going to be some complaints about tyres, but had Bridgestone anticipated this much?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 pmSteven Roy said:
I am with Alex on this. Forcing people to run tyres that are utterly unsuited to their car is stupid and contrary to the whole point of F1. Taking the whole range and letting people run the best possible tyre for there car would make for better racing. Lewis needs harder tyres than most so let him have them. Forcing people to run two different tyres also make strategy a lot more predictable.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:34 amJourneyer said:
I think the reason Bridgestone is doing this “they have to run 2 compounds rule” is threefold.
1. To keep their name in the news (as Christine has already mentioned)
2. To create variations in strategy - they didn’t want everyone running the same compound and all pitting at the same time. The 2-compound rule makes some of the teams rethink their strategy and see if there are ways to work around it and outfox the rest.
3. To curb the car’s speed (as requested by the, who else, FIA) - if cars run on a sub-optimal compound, there is less grip, therefore, less speed. As always, they’re trying to curb speeds to try to keep the cars’ speed at a relatively “safe” level.
Obviously, #1 hasn’t worked for them at all. #2 is doing better than #1, but not by much. #3 is actually working to a certain extent, but at the price of a negative perception of their tyres, which causes negative PR.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 amMattw said:
Was the idea to run 2 compounds thought up by Bridgestone, or the FIA?
That ways my take on the situation - and it worked.
You watched Le Mans this year, and bits of GP2 - they use slicks. They will provide more grip than a grooved tyre.
With the new aero rules, the cars next year will have more mechanical grip (from the tyres), and less aerodynamic grip - Hopefully this will allow the cars to run closer together, and allow the drivers more time to save the car when its starts to slide
The cars are going to be very different next year anyway.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:03 amMattw said:
With Lewis seemingly harder on his tyres then the others - if he starts to build a big lead in the championship, do you think Bridgestone wll start to bring softer, more marginal tyres to the races?
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 amChristine said:
I did watch Le Mans, although the tyres weren’t what I was looking at.
Even so, I’ve never seen either of those series before, and very little now, so it’s hard for me to judge what a slick tyre is capable of.
Like you say, next year is going to be completely different anyway, and I think the tyre compound business needs to take a back seat and let everything else fall into place first. I’m sure Bridgestone don’t see it like that.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:24 amSteven Roy said:
After Bridgestone won the tender to be sole supplier they decided they wanted to run two compounds and complicate things to get publicity. Instead of the FIA telling them that such a thing should have been discussed before the contract was signed they roled over and let them do what they like. If Bridgestone are not happy with the coverage they are getting it is up to them to work harder to get more. Instead of finding ways to ruin racing they should get their people in front of a camera on a regular basis.
Martin Brundle before practically every race is on the grid desperate for someone to interview so why don’t Bridgestone have someone there available for interview?
When I read about the plan to run two more diverse compounds my first thought was that it would be aimed at restricting Lewis. Bridgestone is still very close to Ferrari so I am sure towards the end of the season we will see tyres that are more suited to Ferrari and Lewis destroying tyres as he did in one race at the end of last season.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:22 pmStuart Codling said:
I’ll put that one to them in Budapest…
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 pmSteven Roy said:
Tell them I want 3% of the increased airtime value for suggesting it.
BTW
I posted somewhere else that there were only 2 F1 Racings left in the shop I went into to buy mine last night so it looks like Kubica can shift mags too.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:58 pmStuart Codling said:
That’s excellent news. A healthy audit will encourage “them upstairs” to smile upon experimentation in future.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:18 pmScott Woodwiss said:
could anyone tell me if my question to JPM is in this month’s F1 racing?
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 pmStuart Codling said:
It would appear not. Remember the tip: get your question in straight away and be at the head of the queue. By way of a heads-up, we’re planning to do another one at the Hungaroring, subject to the agreement of the person concerned. The email should go out this Friday.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:31 pmScott Woodwiss said:
but i’ve done that for both JPM and Damon Hill, and nothing
*sigh*
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 pmScott said:
There won’t be a grid walk in Budapest, as Martin is going to be there. It looks like we’ll have Anthony Davidson commentating on Saturday, and Damon Hill during the race itself.
Nothing wrong with Anthony, although in my view Damon’s more suited to the role of pundit. I think they’d have been better off using Anthony for both days, or employing the services of a more experience commentator such as Gareth Rees. Failing that, Lucas Di Grassi did a good job of covering the action from GP2, at Monaco, for ITV.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:36 pmScott Woodwiss said:
can i just say stuart that I am liking the new look of F1 racing very much. nice to see it looking up to date
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:41 pmSteven Roy said:
That is not going to help you get a question asked.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:47 pmScott Woodwiss said:
what? can’t a guy complement the look of a magazine without his motives questioned? :S
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:06 pmJordan Allen said:
The problem is Scott, you are no camaflouge expert. That was spotted from so far way that Steven had to wait a day in order to fire back a reply from his maximium possible range….
Impressive shooting, Steven! “Me” should hire you to be the sniper on that fly-elimination SWAT team.
.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:09 pmChristine said:
Oh gawd, not Damon. Were they not listening to him last time?
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:12 pmScott Woodwiss said:
i can’t do anything around here without getting joked about or criticised or both can i? lol
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:35 pmMattw said:
We have a fly buzzing around at the moment. Christine, can you sen ‘Me’ round to swat it for us?
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:36 pmme said:
hehe
you know they only get him in to make allen look good.
did anyone ever get to the bottom of why brundle doesn’t visit hungary?
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:40 pmlou said:
Oh I wanted Ant to do both days…. he is sooo much better. :/ Maybe Damon will be better this time… well I hope he is…
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:48 pmAlex Andronov said:
Ant is so much better! Agreed! Damon sounds like he’s bored even when he’s interested. And when he’s bored… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:49 pmSteven Roy said:
It’s contract negotiation time. So he disappears for the weekend. ITV get a load of complaints that whoever replaced him is NBG. He comes back and they get a load of comments saying how good it is to have him back. He then negotiaties an extra few percent on what ITV had in mind. Or it could be his wife’s birthday or their anniversary or he just can’t stand the horrible bore that is the Hungaroring.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:53 pmme said:
that would be a fine explanation, except itv have no contract to offer him anymore.
i was hoping for something more exciting, like he was banned for setting foot inside the border or the like.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:53 pmlou said:
maybe he needs some respite from James Allen.
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:59 pmLadySnowcat said:
Ant is brill…
Damon….
Isn’t….
Oh dear…..
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:47 pmMattw said:
Brundel is so good, he was able to negotiate a contract where he could take the occasional race off. If you were going to take one race off a year for your holidays - which race would you miss?
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:54 pmme said:
fuji
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:02 pmLadySnowcat said:
Just seen the comment that we’ve only had one decision based on tyres… Turkey….
I’d say… Silverstone (for obvious reasons)… Germany (Lewis not being able to get to the end, and the differing Ferrari/Macca strategies)… actually Canada… but that wasn’t as clear as it may have been due to the Lewis incident….
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 pmme said:
that was a wet / dry decision though wasn’t it? rather than a soft / hard choice.
you might have to remind me on that one. i thought the bmw split was down to safeguarding the win rather than one driver favouring a particular tyre.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:13 pmStuart Codling said:
…Is the correct answer! Shame - it’s a nice place. But only one (tenuous) overtaking spot on-track, as previously billed.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:17 pmScott Woodwiss said:
it’s been described often as Monaco but wider, or something like that. Mind you, not all the races have been dull - remember 1997? 2006?
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:22 pmChristine said:
Barcelona
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:33 pmme said:
and they don’t have the common courtesy to give james allen a race (or two) off?
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 pmScott said:
It’d be Shanghai, for me. Although I can definitely see the logic of avoiding the Circuit de Catalunya. It’s mostly one long, uninteresting corner after another, so it’s very hard for cars to follow each other closely.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:55 pmDan Brunell said:
China, Malaysia or Turkey.
I actually want to be at a race with a decent sized crowd.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 pmSteven Roy said:
Seriously ??
What race would I miss? Fuji. I never learned to scuba dive and that is probably the only way to guarantee you will survive such a wet place.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:11 pmLadySnowcat said:
Generally you could say Hungary but look what happened last year with all the repercussions…. and the year before wasn’t there a surprising result…
Funnily enough I recall Murray was on his hols in 2006 and missed it….
We all like races for different reasons and if you go to any of them I reckon you’d enjoy them all…
Although Australia, Monaco, Canada, Silverstone and Germany have not been my favourites this year….
PS Anyone missing Shanghai last year missed out… I recommend the top of the grandstand where you can see nearly 2/3rds of the track….
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:14 pmme said:
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:15 pmDom said:
He used to take his holidays during the Austrian GP before it got kicked off the calendar.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:46 pmAlex Andronov said:
My guess is that his wife is really in charge of his schedule. And Hungary usually falls in the school holidays so…
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:03 pmme said:
but… he is an f1 commentator.
we arranged our marriage around a gap in the formula 1 calendar, and we do this for fun.
seems remarkably half-arsed of him, if that’s really the case. he certainly doesn’t deserve a job at beeb next year if his genuine reason for not attending is either:
a) “there’s only one overtaking spot on the circuit”
or
b) “my wife says i can’t come out to play”
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:25 pmAlianora La Canta said:
If it were me negotiating a contractual holiday, I’d probably miss Monaco. There is simply no way I’d be able to stand the large masses of extremely wealthy people and their associated ettiquetial demands, let alone the prices charged, long noisy walks to get anywhere and the hassle of the confined spaces. However excellent the racing often is, I wouldn’t be able to commentate due to getting completely lost, having a meltdown from the social demands, or possibly fainting from the amount of perfume probably used by the celebrities on the grid.
My least favorite race as a race is Spain (closely followed by a dry Hungary)… …but at least I’d be in a fit state to talk about how bored I was to three million viewers!
As for Fuji, I’ve represented England at swimming a couple of times, so I should be OK (plus it would be one of the few races where nobody would look at me funny for turning up to the race in a thick coat).
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 pmScott Woodwiss said:
Mainly he used to be away racing at Le Mans in the past, which was why he was never able to attend races such as Canada. But I mean come on, cut the guy some slack - everyone needs a break. Granted, it’s not exactly ideal to do it in the middle of the season, but it is only just 1 race. It’s not like he’s missing like half a season just because he can’t be arsed.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:40 pmme said:
true. maybe it happens in other sports too, i’ve no idea.
to put it another way. in his position, would you?
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:44 pmJoe said:
If you were going to take one race off a year for your holidays - which race would you miss?
Catalunya. It beats Hungary for being such a borefest easily, IMO. Such a boring track. I know Malaysia and Bahrain can be seen as boring as they’re so similar, but they both have really good turns.
Off-topic but, can people actually believe that the night-race is happening?I can’t wait for it but I mean, it just seems so surreal and bizarre…….
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:50 pmScott Woodwiss said:
if I felt i needed a break, then yes I would. However, if i wasn’t getting stressed or anything like that, then I wouldn’t feel the need to.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:57 pmme said:
i can’t wait either. hopefully it’ll live up to the hype. it’ll be a big shame if the lights are so bright it looks almost daylight. but the course is fab regardless, and the fans visiting are in for a wild weekend.
can’t argue with that.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:16 amScott Woodwiss said:
good
it’s like holidays for me. My mum asked if I wanted to go with her to Cyprus for a week, but I declined because I didn’t really need a holiday. But I’m going for a week to Southwald up near the coast because I’d like to get away with my nan and grandad and mum just for a break
I believe that if someone like Martin wants to take one race off, then nothing should stop him from doing that. F1 does involve a lot of travelling, and maybe it’s affecting him a little more than everybody else in the sport.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:21 amAlianora La Canta said:
With F1 possibly going up to 20 races in the near future, Martin may merely be setting a trend that many others will follow. Frank Williams has commented that 20 races would require two race squads to avoid the mechanics getting exhausted.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:27 amme said:
i fear for the future of sidepodcast
the lack of a summer break next year isn’t making many people happy either is it?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:44 amJoe said:
I remember early in the season when Martin went to Singapore, the guy he interviewed said that the Singapore GP will have three times as much light as a flood-lit football stadium. How is that even possible?o_O
July 24th, 2008 at 12:50 amScott Woodwiss said:
yeah, where’s the 3 week break F1 usually took before Hungary?
July 24th, 2008 at 1:16 amScott said:
CART created the world’s largest ever outdoor lighting project, when they ran the Grand Prix of Cleveland as a night race, in 2003. It cost an absolute fortune. I’ve the stats for it somewhere…
Track: 2.106-mile temporary circuit
Lighting towers used: 22
No. of towers used in typical college football game: 4
July 24th, 2008 at 1:28 amScott said:
From today’s Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/music-industry-to-tax-downloaders-875757.html
Seems like a perfectly acceptable idea to me. 30 quid for unlimited music downloads is a very good deal.
There’s still a lot of details to ironed out before a project like this can come to fruition, though. The terms of usage for the music would need to be defined. Could it be used freely in uncommercial podcasts, for example.
You can bet your life that many companies - the mobile phone networks, for example - will pressure the government not to pursue this plan.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:20 amme said:
never gonna happen.
when was the last time the music industry offered consumers anything that remotely sounded like a good deal? whatever they have planned it almost certainly involves more restrictions and higher prices.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:43 amStuart Codling said:
And yet… there’s some pleasure to be had in watching some pudgy-faced, pink-shirted British city boy thinking they’re a real big shot in their Porsche Cayenne – and then being treated with utmost disdain by the door staff.
Yup, lots of people give it a miss – as with Magny-Cours. Do it once or twice and it becomes a habit. Then the habit becomes an unchangeable fixture…
Remember that farcical McLaren press conference last year? Both the McLaren/Mercedes PR big guns were on their hols, and that’s the main reason it spun out of control.
Funnily enough, I was reminded of this yesterday when I was looking at one of the potential cover images for our October (Singapore preview) issue. But enough of these spoilers! I think (hope) the night race is going to be fabulous.
Quite. The profit they used to make on CDs was outrageous.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:02 amAlex Andronov said:
There is actually, I was just thinking, a good reason for taking one race a year off. It keeps him honest. I wonder if that’s it? He’s always liked competition so perhaps by handing over his mic once a year he gets to test if he still has it. He doesn’t want to be past his prime but superglued to that microphone?
July 24th, 2008 at 9:03 amMattw said:
You seriously think Fuji is a less interesting track then Hungary??
It’s Monaco without the barriers. OK, I take your points on 1997 and 2006 - 1989 was even better.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:06 amChristine said:
Last year certainly didn’t do it any favours.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:27 amme said:
including blank cd’s… that literally contain nothing.
i didn’t say it was a less interesting track? my objections:
firstly, they nicked the race off of suzuka.
secondly, the no #1 selling point of fuji is the big mountain… what mountain i hear you ask? exactly. a race track built at the base of a mountain almost guarantees weather that means you don’t get to see the mountain.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:34 amSteven Roy said:
I guess the other part of that argument is that he finds out if he misses being there. If on the Sunday evening he still doesn’t know the result and isn’t bothered then he knows it is time to walk away. If on the other hand by the end of FP2 he is glued to the internet with live timing, video and radio feeds like some kind of sad addict then he probably wants to do it for another year.
Fuji has two major problems. One is location which is why the weather is entirely unsuitable for F1. The second is that it is not Suzuka. If you go to Fuji you know that were it not for Ernie playing stupid games you would be at Suzuka. If onyl Herman Tilke could be injected with a bit of John Hugenholz’s DNA.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:41 amAlex Andronov said:
I take umbrage at sad! I am a happy addict
July 24th, 2008 at 10:24 amStuart Codling said:
I take your point about Suzuka and the weather at Fuji. Ironically, the last time I was at Suzuka was in 2004 when that Typhoon struck.
A very odd thing happened on the way out one night. Standing outside the back gate of the paddock were a pair of sodden Japanese autograph hunters, each clutching a programme. They were plainly very excited to see me. I couldn’t figure out why. They politely insisted I sign their programmes, which they were holding open at the Minardi page.
Turns out they thought I was Gianmaria Bruni…
July 24th, 2008 at 10:51 amz-baumgartner said:
The season starts later though so they should have more pre season testing to get to grips with all the new regulations
July 24th, 2008 at 10:52 amz-baumgartner said:
Isn’t suzuka back next year anyway?
July 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pmAlianora La Canta said:
Turns out they thought I was Gianmaria Bruni… {Stuart Codling - 3 comments ago}
That was a funny anecdote. I do feel sorry for the autograph hunters though - stuck out in the monsoon all day to not get a driver’s signature. Out of interest, did you sign anything for them?
The season starts later though so they should have more pre season testing to get to grips with all the new regulations {z-baumgartner - 2 comments ago}
And that’s not making me happy either, since the season now starts after my birthday
Isn’t suzuka back next year anyway? {z-baumgartner - previous comment}
Unfortunately not. It returns in 2009 as part of the alternate-circuit arrangement.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:33 pmChristine said:
It is 2009 next year, isn’t it? Is this a hint as to where the missing TARDIS went?
July 25th, 2008 at 12:52 pmAlianora La Canta said:
Oh, of course 2009 is next year! Silly me…