Question about tyres

[manchild]

When and how are Bridgestones distributed to teams? Do they come in pile from factory and than are distributed to each team? Can teams randomly pick tyres from a stock? Is there some sort of randomization? Can FIA and teams inspect and compare if the compound they got is the same as the one their rivals got? Is anyone aware of exact procedure of tyre distribution?

[Rob W]

When and how are Bridgestones distributed to teams?... Is there some sort of randomization? Can FIA and teams inspect and compare if the compound they got is the same as the one their rivals got? Is anyone aware of exact procedure of tyre distribution?

I read somewhere ages ago that the tyres are taken by the tire company, not the teams. They are divided up into batches and then it's randomly drawn as to who gets which batch.

In theory though. We all know what there are probably some excellent stories out there on this topic.

Rob W

[Rob W]

I'm going to reopen this can of worms..

I had the chance to catch up with a friend who works for an F1 team on skype overnight and he said that there are definitely some grumblings amongst teams now about the tires. Specifically he wouldn't say what (I'm not sure he'd appreciate me saying, and it'd make it hard to get interesting info out of him in the future ha ha) but the broad strokes are that the new tires are so suited to Ferrari - who developed them specifically with this in mind (and their car also designed around where the tire development was moving) - that other teams are out-of-sorts and, well, cheesed off. The degradation of them in particular.

I guess the relative use of the tires by teams will only really be known once the season is well underway but I'd like to hear from anyone who really knows about tires and can factor in the long run vs short run vs light/heavy fuel scenarios which make F1 testing so hard to decipher in actual performance terms.

Any interesting ideas or observations?

(Pls, before I get tinfoil hat or anti-Ferrari calls - don't, I'm a Ferrari fan too)

Rob W

[allan]

i guess we all know the usual thing that's gonna happen.
i wouldn't be surprised if Briator started jumping around accusing ferrari of cheating with bridgestone, not to mention their engine development. You only have to read Fisichella's comments after the Barcelona test. Too bad shumi retired now, or else he would have got his share, if you know what i mean.
To be honest, the last bahrain test made me feel afraid that we are heading towards another 02/04 season, and i really hope im wrong, even though im a ferrari fan, simply because if they dominated or won the championships, tons and tons of accuses will pour on ferrari's heads. The only good thing is that mclaren are showing good pace, actually one of the best. So whether the tires game is fair or not is simply related to you people, i'd say it is fair, but manchild or pro wouldn't agree (i guess ), and that's all part of the game, isn't it?

[mini696]

I would not be suprised, Ferrari ARE sponsered by Bridgestone. But we can come up with all sorts of theories ie. Ferrari are the only team to move their weight distribution back and all other teams moved it forward. But hey at least the tyres (one of the most boring apsects in F1) are even now.

[miqi23]

Dont you think Ferrari will have an advantage over other teams since they have been using Bridgestones for a long time now.

[allan]

yes, they do have a slight advantage, but the tires are completely new according to bridgestone, and it was confirmed by toyota and williams, who were using brdgs last year. Im saying that for sure some people will say "well ferrari developed these tires behind everybody's back, and bridgestone gave them the info about the future development during the year (and btw, hilariously, there is no tire development) but if anybody thinks ferrari are cheating, prove it.... then u can talk and accuse as much as u want (and i don't mean anyone by specific here, im talking about teams not forum memebers ). That's why im saying that whether the game is fair or not is actually relative to each person.

[miqi23]

Wooo, you seem like a proper Ferrari fan mate. You need to chill out, we will see how the season goes. No one said anything about Ferrari cheating or anything, you just smelled it coming didnt you

[manchild]

I got proper answer from moderator of Renault f1 team blog.

As for Manchild's question, tyres of the same compound are all identical and distributed to the teams by Bridgestone. There are a number of safeguards built into the Sporting Regulations to ensure fairness. I have copied them below. Most importantly in answer to your query, as it indicates in point (b), allocation is conducted by the FIA technical delegate; and in point (c) the FIA can choose to replace tyres if it so wishes.

76) Control of tyres :

a) The outer sidewall of all tyres which are to be used at an Event must be marked with a unique
identification.

b) Other than in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), all tyres
intended for use at an Event must be presented to the FIA technical delegate for allocation prior to
the end of initial scrutineering.

c) At any time during an Event, and at his absolute discretion, the FIA technical delegate may select
alternative dry-weather tyres to be used by any team or driver from among the relevant stock of tyres
which such team's designated supplier has present at the Event.

d) A competitor wishing to replace one unused tyre by another identical unused one must present both
tyres to the FIA technical delegate.

e) The use of tyres without appropriate identification may result in deletion of the relevant driver’s
qualifying time or exclusion from the race.

f) The only permitted type of tyre heating devices are blankets which use resistive heating elements.

[pRo]

So whether the tires game is fair or not is simply related to you people, i'd say it is fair, but manchild or pro wouldn't agree (i guess ), and that's all part of the game, isn't it?

I hate to repeat myself, so please reread what I already posted here:
viewtopic.php?p=40364&highlight=next+season#40364

As of today, I have nothing against any current driver or team of next season. Things might change as the season gets older, but I don't judge anyone in advance, they have to deserve it first.

[ginsu]

Ferrari is the only team running small downforce generating wings attached directly to their brake ducts/wheel hub. If the other teams can't see how that's a benefit to tyre wear then they are not doing their job. I don't know why teams complain about Ferrari when they can do the same thing. Maybe it would be more of an argument if teams copied Ferrari and still suffered the same problems.

You can see they are increasing the angle of attack and putting them out in a more prominent location to increase the direct airflow that they receive.

[Rob W]

yes, they do have a slight advantage, but the tires are completely new according to bridgestone, ...:

True. I don't think it's merely a case of them having been existing customers, more that they were in a position to instruct Bridgestone exactly what sort of tires would suit their new car, and also to design the car with this in mind - while all other teams were without this foresight. Any team would do the same in this situation so it's not a blight on Ferrari at all nor their sportsmanship..

As I said, only time will tell. Things change over the course of a year, but if this year is like 2002 it'll be quite annoying to me.

The move to single tires in many ways is a good one - with tons of positives - but I suspect it'll take a half the season, if not the whole season, to really see true comparative performances on the tires.

Rob W

[allan]

Wooo, you seem like a proper Ferrari fan mate. You need to chill out, we will see how the season goes. No one said anything about Ferrari cheating or anything, you just smelled it coming didnt you

actually i can still smell it from the billions of threads in the site but i wasn't overreacting or something, all i said that whether it's fair or not is up to u guys, isn't it?
I agree with u Rob W, i can't believe i'm saying this, but i really hope that Ferrari's advantage in Bahrain was false, but let's be optimistic!

[manchild]

All Ferrari advantage comes from the flexing splitter in the airbox