TYRES

[Milionis Leonidas 0]

Well I believe that this is one of the most complicated subjects of this season.

Michelin are doing better than some thought or hoped. Especially in some races they are far better than Bridgestone.

So what's going to happen next year?

Will all the teams chose Michelin? If they do that then Williams have a clear advantage, being the team that Michelin are designed for, which could give them a championship.

Will they stick with Bridgestone risking Michelin going even better, and face that way another dead-end?

It's certain that we are not facing the dominance of Bridgestone over Goodyear some years ago, but the signs are there.

And last but not least, have you heard about the return of Goodyear in 2003?

I believe that 3 tyre manufacturers in F1 are certanly a crowd. It might be interesting, but it 'll surely be much more complicated.

[Claire 0]

There never seems to be a tyre war for long, one company usually pulls out, giving the other a monopoly for a year or two, then another company will come in, and so on.

I dont think we will see 3 manufacturers in F1 at the same time.  Bridgestone will go, leaving Michelin on their own, then Goodyear will come back and Michelin will leave etc.  It just seems to go round in circles.

[GeoffandSandy 0]

In recent times the one in, one out thing seems to be the way it goes but years ago (maybe when the game was much less expensive) there were three & even four tyre manufacturers at the same time.

Dunlop, Michelin, Avon & (I think) Goodyear.

A team owners nightmare.

Avon were the best in the wet, Michelin hopeless even if the sky was only cloudy, Dunlop great for wear & goodyear great qualifying tyres. Arrrrgh.

Now I also think three is a crowd. Too much money to spend for too little return.

By the way did you see that Michelin have built a new tyre for Concorde which can puncture at 300kph & not go flat.Interesting huh?

[TotalF1 SamB 0]

I think it would be fascinating to have 3 different tyre manufacturers....but think why Goodyear and Michelin wanted to come back - they couldn't afford NOT to be in F1 - we won't see anyone leaving...

If 3 different tyres is too much for you what are you going to say?? Should all the drivers have one car? Is 11 teams too much for you? What about all those different engines!? Wow, that's confusing!

[Milionis Leonidas 0]

That was not my point, and you know it.

Anyway I agree with you, that to have all the 3 tyre manufactures is quite possible.

Goodyear are comming back because of their great loses on sales. With F1 being watch around the world the advertisement is so great, that I believe neither of the two recent manufacturers will like to move out.

They know what will happen to their sales, as they know what happened to Goodyear's sales.

If that's for good or ill, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[GeoffandSandy 0]

How much of the tyre difference is real & how much is media hyperbole?

Also, different drivers prefer different tyres & different styles can vary the wear rate enormously.

It would be a shame to see racing spoiled for a whole season because the team bosses made a poor choice which they were then stuck with until next year or possibly longer.

There is, in my view, much to be said for a control tyre which everyone uses.

[TotalF1 SamB 0]

The tyres are the one area on the car where the most time can be made - those 4 points of the car are the only parts which are ever (hopefully) in contact with the track...

Tyre companies have to have a trade off between grip, i.e. stickiness, and durability - like the Michelins are very grippy, but the grip doesn't work very well at lower track temperatures...

[Milionis Leonidas 0]

First of all I believe that tyres are very important, and they make a huge difference in a race.

To the point I think it's hard to say if one manufacturer is good or many are better.

As for the poor choices didn't teams lose a season because of poor engine choices?

I still believe in the 'one-manufacturer-idea', but that is risky too, 'cause if that one gives the input in a selective manner he might determine who will win the championship.

What if every team chose or even made their tyres without FIA interferance(something like engines)?

It is a far from the present reality idea, but what if?

[TotalF1 SamB 0]

If the manufacturers were given a free rein, we'd see huge slicks that would be able to give more grip than either the cars or the drivers could physically stand

[Milionis Leonidas 0]

Maybe then FIA should take more control over the input the teams receive from the tyres manufacturers, and make sure that no team has an edge over this.

We all realised that Ferrari got more input from Bridgestone, at the start of the season, and that was unfair, even for me that I'm their fan.

So more FIA interference or the truth is somewhere in the middle, as usual, and where exactly?

[TotalF1 SamB 0]

Maybe FIA should introduce a control tyre with a contract manufacturer that only goes through them, and not the teams

[GeoffandSandy 0]

That makes sense, Sam.

The FIA are constantly trying to slow the cars down but lap times continue to fall.

Maybe a tightly controlled tyre might reduce costs, complication, speeds & unfair team input.

[Milionis Leonidas 0]

Yes, I believe that this would solve many problems, too.

As the case is at the moment FIA is trying to slow cars but...

Engines grow stronger and stronger! With a fantastic BMW engine and a competitive Ferrari engine, we could certainly say so.

Aerodynamics. FIA new rules proved nothing more than a poor try, with Ferrari making the loudest reply to their claims that they would slow down the cars.

Tyres. With two manufacturers fighting for speed who can get in the middle and tell them to stop fighting and make tyres that would slow the cars down?

Yes that control tyre is a good solution.

There's got to be another though, too. But I can't find it.

[GeoffandSandy 0]

Tyres are made from a very complex mix of chemicals.

If the FIA's chemists could identify a few key "sticky" compounds & ban them speed might be reduced, at least for a while.

Another way would be to build a tyre performance test rig & ban anything above a certain level. After all it's done with fuel now.

Probably it would open another can of worms but I have faith in one chemists ability to detect anothers' tricks.