Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Schumacher confident on 2011 chances (Autosport)
"Michael Schumacher is adamant that his Mercedes GP team is moving in the right direction to become title contenders again next year.
"’The fact is that I feel comfortable in the situation and I believe that we are moving in the right direction to ensure that next year we will be real contenders,’ Schumacher said in an interview with sponsor DVAG.
"’The teamwork, with the engineers and with Nico Rosberg is going very well. The car we currently have is almost a ‘survivor’ from last year, which had already been shaped, moulded and developed for us and we as drivers have had to make compromises accordingly.’"
Button up for Bahrain return (The Sun)
"Formula One champ Jenson Button is glad Bahrain’s circuit will not change for 2011. He said: ‘It has some great fast-flowing sections.’"
Heikki Kovalainen – Fonecta TV Spot (YouTube via @H_Kovalainen)
Comment of the day
Pirelli will begin testing the new tyres today, but there will be no change to the two-compound rule. rob argues the case for a change to the regulations but what do you think?
I’m happy to see there will remain only one tyre supplier and we will not see a return to tyre wars but really disappointed to know there will be no change to the regulations.
Am I alone in finding the endless supposition throughout every race weekend on the topic of tyres to be dreadfully dull. For me it is about the least interesting aspect of the sport but so much of a teams’ performance seems to be about how they’re using their tyres.
I’d like to see something done just to take the issue out of the equation altogether, or at the very least reduce its impact on racing. I’m not so technically minded as some out there but couldn’t the teams be given a tyre to race on that will give them loads of grip for the full race duration and more, maybe even the whole weekend?
I like how the Moto GP race.. One tank of fuel, one set of tyres.
rob
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday Luts!
On this day in F1
Nigel Mansell made his Formula One debut on this day at the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix.
Driving for Lotus Mansell qualified 24th on the grid but his race came to a premature end on lap 40 of 54 when his engine blew up.
He had been driving in agony due to a fuel leak in the cockpit, which left him with painful first and second degree burns.
The race was won by Jean-Pierre Jabouille for Renault, followed by Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann.
Fer no.65
17th August 2010, 0:28
Haha lol, nice add!
Cornflakes
17th August 2010, 0:36
In repsonse to Rob’s COTD I would say that tyre’s, although dull on the outside is actually one of the biggest factors in motorsport. When you consider that the total investment a team puts into it’s car is entirely dependent on the tyres, as this is the only part that the car makes contact with the track, you begin to realise the importance of tyres and why they’re discussed so much.
As to your belief that there should be a tyre that lasts a whole race distance (or even weekend!), well I would completely disagree. That would mean no pit stops which would lose a whole dimension to the sport (imagine losing the pit lane carnage at Hungary!) In fact I reckon Bridgestone this year should make there tyres less durable, the hards often being able to complete race distance (Alonso at Monaco). More stops would mean more action and less durable tyres mean benefits for smooth, careful and tactful (and ultimately skilled) drivers.
Fer no.65
17th August 2010, 1:48
and we would still be talking about the tyres every weekend…
tyres are essencial… if they last the whole race, but your car is easier on them, you can push more… but if the car is harsh on tyres, then you gotta be careful…
we would still be talking every weekend about how the track benefits one car (or driver) or the other depending on the tyre wear, heat, etc…
Plus, we already saw that in 2005… and it really didn’t work…
macahan
17th August 2010, 4:03
I don’t think it really matter what motor sport your in you will ever get away from tyres and how they affect things. Even in MotoGP style series a lot of the bike setup comes down to the tires to make sure you make them last, putting less or more air could help with tracking and cornering but could hurt top line speed or simply wear out the tire prematurely. One driver might prefer things different then another driver say harder springs but a softer tire to give great corner speed while another want softer spring and harder tire to go for more straight line.
As long the motor sport is one wheels it will always be a factor to one degree or another. It becomes less an issue in spec series or if the tires are strong enough to easily handle full race distance. But for the later in F1 with as hard it is to overtake that would create DULL races. I would like to see the two compound per race rule changed and let the teams decide and say have a mandatory pit stop like in GP2. Now you might start with soft tire, change to another set of soft to finish on another set of soft or go soft then finish a long stint on hard or start on hard and finish on hard. This opens up the strategies a lot more. How many might try go soft, soft and have to nurse the tires and be overtaken by someone going soft,soft,soft or Soft, hard or maybe even hard, hard? The possibilities. I’d say keep the two step in the compounds for the race so super soft and medium or hard and soft, maybe even have 5 compounds so you could go soft and hard or medium and extra hard. ;)
TomD11 (@tomd11)
17th August 2010, 10:24
Personally, I’d like to see it being optional whether to change tyres and use both compounds, with there being two tyre compounds; a duruable harder one which will last the whole race but has pretty much gone off completely by the end (i.e. so the advantage of having newer softer tyres is enough to get past) and a softer one that will degrade more much quickly but give you more speed instantly.
Mike
18th August 2010, 8:00
If you take the tyres now and cut there life by half, or even a third, it would make things so much more interesting.
Make teams do pit stops because they want to, now because they have to.
rob
17th August 2010, 16:19
Yes, I’d quite happily lose pit line incidents from the sport, not least because they’re dangerous. Do you want racing or bumper cars?
Yes I’d happily lose that whole “dimension” from the sport, for me there’s nothing exciting about a F1 doing 60mph and even less excitement from race victories being overly dependant on a lot of strategising by pit-lane boffins.
I take your point about less durable tyres rewarding smooth drivers, there must be a way to have a bit of both – maybe with a tyre which would start to go off by the end of the race meaning a driver that overcooked it would suffer more?
Cornflakes
17th August 2010, 16:40
Fair point, but I think without pit stops F1 would just be boring. A tyre that starts to go off by the end of the race? That’s exactly what we have now. Remember Kobayashi starting on hards in Valencia?
SoLiDG (@solidg)
17th August 2010, 0:58
A tyre to last a race has been done in 2005 and I didn’t like it!
It was even a bit unsafe. Remember Kimi at the nurnburgring.
They might get rid of the mandatory 2 types per race rule. don’t care too much for it anymore. In the begin I tought it might be fun, but has added little. Altough with other tyres it might be a different story!
Steve K
17th August 2010, 2:19
The best race this year in my opinion was Montreal. The reason? The tires fell off so much the drivers needed multiple pit stops which allowed us to see every driver in traffic and forced some daring passes in traffic. Moto GP races are mini sprints that are boring after the start, kinda like Barain this year in F1.
Patrickl
17th August 2010, 10:14
The real reason was “different strategies” …
We’ve seen two stop race before, but when everybody is on the same 2-stop strategy nothing happens still.
The difference was that Red Bull started on the harder tyres, that Button qualified poorly and that Schumacher was put on probably the most idiotic strategy in F1 history (a 30 lap stint on tyres that last at best half that).
Otherwise not much would have happened in the top 10 there either.
The strategy differences were actually strategy blunders. So if the tures would be like that at every race, teams would stop making these blunders.
rob
17th August 2010, 16:27
Any racing fan who watched Rossi Vs Lorenzo at Barca last year would say it was nothing other than exceptional racing, right til the last corner.
Puffy
17th August 2010, 3:32
I wouldn’t make tires to last the entire race. But I’d love to see them abolish the mandatory use of both tires. What I’d like to see is a wider range of tires being brought to each grand prix, with a small gap between each set but a fairly large gap between the softest and hardest compounds, and then letting the teams race with which ever ones they prefer during qualifying and the race. I think it would make the tire strategies far more interesting and at least based a lot more on the skill of the team to come up with the best strategy rather than arbitrarily having to run poor tires for at least one stint.
Lord Stig
17th August 2010, 5:47
Very Cool Add! It is always more memorable when an add just seems to be well though through. Also interesting how a finnish telecom company will use both finnish and english in the add, though in Finland a good portion of the population speaks Finnish and English.
BasCB (@bascb)
17th August 2010, 6:05
Very nice advertisement. I like Heikki and this is a fun ad as well.
BasCB (@bascb)
17th August 2010, 6:13
Not sure i understand that Button on Bahrain link. He is quoted as saying he is happy the circuit does not change, but the organizers state it will “change” in that they will use the pre 2009 version.
So which one with the “great fast-flowing sections” does he actually like?
Patrickl
17th August 2010, 10:18
He doesn’t like the new twisty slow speed bit and that’s disappearing.
BasCB (@bascb)
17th August 2010, 6:31
here’s some interesting thoughts on when the Austin race wil be in the season: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/racing/entries/2010/08/12/formula_one_supremo_bernie_ecc.html
Seems the best slot that might be available would be end of may or first week of june. Still quite hot but not yet blistering.
Hamish
17th August 2010, 6:40
Is it just me or is Heikki the only driver you just can’t seem to dislike?
Rob Gallagher
17th August 2010, 8:10
Karun Chandhok also.
Tango
17th August 2010, 8:31
ie : probability of being world champion = close to zero.
Good humoured and sympathic unanimely liked champion in F1???
Ace
17th August 2010, 9:19
Indeed. I used to think that good humoured and sympathetic chaps didn’t have it in them to become WDC – simply because I can’t think of any that made it. I believe ‘cutthroat’ is the term bandied about.
But I now think the battle for the title brings out the aggressive, moody and dare I say unsporting side. I once considered Vettel was a breath of fresh air for F1, and for some reason I don’t seem to dislike Schumacher anywhere near as much as I used to :)
Mike
18th August 2010, 9:41
Damon Hill anyone?
Or Mika…
Hamish
17th August 2010, 13:10
Early days however – if I said to you two years ago that Mark Webber would be leading the world championship and Jensen is within 1 win of him at this point of the championship you would have laughed at me, a lot.
I wish Heikki all the best. Hes got the skill and he comes across as a genuine nice guy, so I hope it all works out for him.
Tango
17th August 2010, 13:28
He certainely has the skill. Is Lotus the right place? Not likely in the near future. However, hard to believe he will ever be champion after witnessing Lewis pushing him aside so easily. He has to be the fastest man (weak partner) in the fastest car to get a reasonable chance
Tango
17th August 2010, 13:32
After reading my answer, I see how dumb it is. Of course it is better to be the fastest man in the fastest car to win a champ.
UneedAFinn2Win
17th August 2010, 9:22
They used to call him Niceman, as opposed to Kimi (Iceman)
Bleu
17th August 2010, 7:45
About the tyres, I would like to see that one step softer would be around one second faster on average, let’s say 5-kilometre circuit. Hardest tyre should last whole race and softest about 1/4 of the race. No mandatory pit stops.
BasCB (@bascb)
17th August 2010, 14:32
Wouldn’t that mean, that the top 10 would go for softs in Qualli, then drive for 10-15 laps on the softs and finish on the hard tyres, and maybe some of the guys behind having a try at doing without pitstop (maybe one or two having to stop anyhow for new tyres)? Not much of a change from now.
To make it work on softs, they would have to be 75-90 seconds faster (3-4 stops more) than the car they want to pass on hards. Thats a lot over a second per lap.
DGR-F1
17th August 2010, 10:53
I am thinking along the same lines as rob, that it would be more interesting to see the cars going for as long as possible on a single set of tyres – we are nearly there now by the look of things anyway, so why do we have the false ‘two compound’ rule and ‘starting on the tyres you qualified on’ rule, apart from to make an excuse for a pit stop?
I was watching some Japanese SuperGT recently, and they allow the driver to chose his tyres and then live with them for the whole weekend, so why not do similar in F1?
The tyre supplier would still have to be there to provide both wets and drys, so they could supply two or three different compounds for each race. The teams and drivers select which compound they want during Practice, and then live with it for Qualifying and the Race itself.
The number of tyres per car would be limited (as now to keep the costs down), so they would still have to make them last, and there could even be a limited number of tyres overall (to really keep the costs down), enough to supply all the cars and no more, and if it was on a first-come, first-served basis, the teams would have to make their choice quickly or race with what they are given.
That would still allow for all those people who appear to like talking about rubber, but also give some freedom of choice to the teams and drivers!
rob
17th August 2010, 16:47
I like it. Seems to be widespread agreement that at least the 2 compound rule should be dropped.
Calum
17th August 2010, 11:44
When is Part 2 of the Populous Interview getting posted?
Cari Jones (@cari-jones)
17th August 2010, 14:51
It will be up in the next couple of days. Did you enjoy the first part?
BasCB (@bascb)
17th August 2010, 15:22
I did! (hope that’s not too short)
Invoke
17th August 2010, 15:24
I’m also looking forward to the second installment, I enjoyed the first. If you ever get the chance, a similar interview with Tilke and his design team, perhaps with a follow up comparison would be very interesting indeed!
HounslowBusGarage
17th August 2010, 19:09
I think everyone enjoyed Part 1, and I agree with Invoke that a similar interview witrh Tilke might be interesting, but rather more difficult.
After all, I’m sure that with Populous, you were immediately positive about the work done at Silverstone. Whereas it might be more difficult to be positive about Valencia, Bahrein, China . . .
antonyob
17th August 2010, 11:49
rob
would you also like to see overt team orders as in Motogp or traction control? i hate aall this motogp envy> its only because most people dont know whats going on that they think their garden is perfect.
And the tyre thing will never go away. i remember reading, about 15 yrs ago, an article that said what elements of the car made what difference, aero was 0.1 second, engine 0.5 and tyres 1 second. In terms of what could be found or lost. I may be slightly out and those differences may have changed (it was a long time ago) but as others have alluded to, its the patch that connects with the road that will always make the most difference.
rob
17th August 2010, 16:35
I wouldn’t call it envy, just meant to use it as an example, could’ve been any of many other formula.
No I dont want traction control, thats why I didn’t say I wanted traction control.
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
17th August 2010, 12:21
That is one ugly Lotus livery. Seems strange to see a 1970’s- 1980’s Lotus running in anything other than John Player black and gold
Jim N
17th August 2010, 13:47
David Thieme, the man behind Essex Petrolium. There was a dodgy controversial character in F1….. how many of them have we had over the years?
BasCB (@bascb)
17th August 2010, 14:02
Here is some news from a person we have not heard from for a while. I’l give you some quotes from the GPWeek interview, before telling who it’s about:
With greetings from Peter Windsor, EX-USF1
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/16082010/23/windsor-m-better-person-usf1-d.html
mole
17th August 2010, 21:59
If anything, the tyres should be durable, but have a very small window of performance, eg 10 laps where they give out maximum grip and then they plateau down. There is no incentive to pit and get fresh rubber under these current compounds.