Tire Choices to Be Public?

[davewilson]

Plan by the FIA is successful.

Autosport magazine reports that FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting is due to put forward a proposal that should allow the public and the media to gain an insight into team’s strategy for races. He wants teams to publish their initial tire choice for a grand prix once the event is actually underway, which will clear up the type of rubber that different drivers are on.

Drivers have to run both type of available tire compounds in the races this year, in a move that could throw up varying strategies as teams opt for different periods of the race to run hard and soft rubber. However, spec supplier Bridgestone’s proposal to adopt a red-painted sidewall for the soft tires to allow easy differentiation of which compound the drivers were using – as it has successfully emplyed in Champ Car racing – was not supported because teams did not want their strategies to be made public.

The failure of the red-tire rule left the possibility of the public being left in the dark about tire strategy – wasting a great opportunity for the sport to bring itself closer to the public. Whiting looks set to react to that situation by demanding that teams be forced to reveal their initial tire choice once the event is underway – as happens in MotoGP, when each rider’s tire choice is published after the start. This brings a greater understanding of strategy for the fans without letting rival teams know of tire choices before the start of the event.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner indicated he supports the idea.

“The more you can interact with the man in the grandstand and the television viewer, the more interesting it is,” he told Autosport.com. “Anything like that, be it driver communications or pit crew talk, I think is good for the sport. It will add to the spectacle and if it gives the spectator a third dimension, then why not?”
It is about time we were let into the closed shop..!!

The Stig