Weber: Hamilton helped by new tyres

[rmassart]

The BBC have an article in which news Weber is saying Lewis is helped by not having to adapt to the new Bridgestone tyres like say Alonso, Kimi and of course himself:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6268494.stm

But surely Lewis, being a McLaren protege has been testing on Michelin for the last few years, so wouldn't he have the same handicap?

[f1box]

Point well made, rmassart. Not sure whether Mark though that one through! Though there migh tme an arguement that testing and racing don't exactly equate to each other.

Would the racers among us care to comment on whether a partucular tyre manufacturer's product has general overal characteristics which would be discernable regardless of the type of chassis or vehicle being raced?

As an aside - at Donington (historic race meeting) recently my stall was set up opposite the Dunlop Tyre garage. A number of entrants were well racked off that Avon packed up and went home on the Saturday - leaving everyone with no choice but to have Dunlop rubber for the main races on Sunday!

David

[johnbull]

My business is Dunlop tyres. My company is the Dunlop distributor in Malta and has been for over a century - father and grandfather before me, so perhaps my thoughts on such matters are biased.

Alot of thought is put into both the construction and compound of a racing tyre, and yes from my own experience I have found a noticible difference in handling even using the same construction but just changing compounds or vice versa.

Nowadays we have the added ingredient of cross ply or radial racing tyres too. In my racing days they were all cross ply.

We were running my son's single seater with Dunlop cross ply slicks for a while, we even tried a set of Avon A40 cross plys, but recently fitted a set of Dunlop's softest compound radials and the difference was chalk and cheese. The car was transformed and it is now absolutely glued to the track, with the resultant increase in sales of Dunlop racing tyres I'm happy to say. Suddenly everybody wants them!

What worries me with F1 at the moment is that a little variable like a slight change in tyre construction can suddenly change a car from being a perfect handler to being a pig. It's too delicate. his is where something needs to be done.

I will never understand for instance why Bridgestone, who now have a monopoly, still insist on producing a tyre which is marginal in certain conditions. Why don't they produce a tyre that will last, will not grain, will not overheat, will remain constant and linear in performance throughout a race. They can do it now since they don't have any competition, and so long as they are supplying everyone with the same tyres it wouldn't matter.

When the FIA announced that there was going to be just one manufacturer I thought, ah tyre problems will be a thing of the past. Unfortunately they are still one of the most critical items, which to my mind completely defeats the object of having a control tyre.

[Steven Roy]

What I can't understand is various people saying the Bridgestones are hampering both Raikkonen and Alonso when their driving styles are so diametrically opposite.  Alonso's style is odd to say the least and clearly he has had to adapt it to the new tyres but Lewis has had to adapt to a new formula, new circuits (he hadn't even tried Indy on the simulator), longer races etc etc.  While I am sure the Bridgestones suit his style better they do not explain why he has been able to perform better than Alonso.  I think he is simply a better driver.

[raindancer]

I don't think anyone is trying to make excuses for Alonso or Kimi. But the fact remains that they aren't exactly slow either. Some of their times have right up there but in a race setup they seem to lose out. Lets see who else had to switch and their performance which might throw some light on the situation. I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand although drivers are famous for making excuses.

DC pointed this out , Webber is saying so ..........