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I will bet my old tennis shoe that the 2010 lap time decrease compared to 2009 has nothing to do with the tyres. Its the increased downforce.

WhiteBlue wrote:I will bet my old tennis shoe that the 2010 lap time decrease compared to 2009 has nothing to do with the tyres. Its the increased downforce.

I can't disagree, WB, but would add ... &/or reduced drag, better track temperatures, longer wheelbase, increased weight(?), better compounds, better driver, etc. However, I didn't claim the improvement was caused by the tyres, just that the narrower front tyres don't appear to have been the disaster (so far) that some had predicted.

Hey all. If they had increased the size of the rear tyres rather than decreased the front tyre, would it actually have helped overtaking a bit? I mean it would add extra mechanical grip...

More rubber = harder to brake loose the rear.

I think it might have done the opposite.

So while the tyre was slimmed down was the wheel kept the same dimension? The 2010 wheels always look like they're the wrong size since they bulge out. I would figure that they would design new wheels to match the tyres.

gauging by the Bridgestone drawing, I seems they use slightly narrower rims as well, but not to the same degree, as the thread width of the tyre reduced.