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Given that drivers have their own particular driving styles which ask different things at different times of the tyres, my question is: will the slick tyres benefit any particular drivers, or will it simply widen the goalposts in a linear fashion affecting everyone the same?
Good question. I believe the slicks would help those with a very aggressive driving style more than the smooth drivers. So you may see Alonso, Kubica and Hamilton pulling ahead yet people like Button and Heidfeld struggle a little in the beginning.
I don't think friction ellipse in itself will tell you much..
Impossible to say though. There's way more to the tire just being a slick or grooved. Who knows what Bridgestone will do. The tires in their current lineup are already slightly watered down from their ultra performance knife's edge lineup they had during the tire war with Michelin.
It'll be a slick instead of a grooved tire, but given the reduction in downforce who knows what they'll do with compound and construction. Will be a completely different animal of a car to drive. Just like anything else, the drivers with the most feel and ability to adapt will do the best.
Grip is a four letter word. All opinions are my own and not those of current or previous employers.
Belatti wrote:To say that I would have to see the traction circles for some given loads/conditions that Slick tyres offer against grooved ones.
Jersey Tom, with the underlined words I´m trying to say that I´m taking into account Downforce, weight transfer, tyre construction and compound in general so I can compare a 2008 grooved tyre with a 2009 slick tyre.
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I think what will be more revealing will be slipangle vs load graph...the idea I think floating around is that the groove tire's sweet spot is far smaller than the slicks and that the drop-off after peak cornering force is far more severe, as the groove makes for a incosistant contact patch....That's probably what the people claiming slicks will be better for people like Alonso, or Kubica, as they ask for a lot in their tires due to their abrupt input....
but then this is gross generalization, as its just as easy for Bridgestone to make hard to drive slicks as well....
Traction circle vs load or whatever still doesn't tell you how the car is going to handle.
the idea I think floating around is that the groove tire's sweet spot is far smaller than the slicks and that the drop-off after peak cornering force is far more severe,
I would expect the opposite.
Grip is a four letter word. All opinions are my own and not those of current or previous employers.
According to the drivers when they tested the latest slicks compound, they confirmed that the driving techniques were aggressive again.
This is plain simple, there's far more grip. So you can attack more.
If you take karts which are slicks equiped, the karts with which you can do the most aggressive style are the one with the best grip.
The actual grooved tyre don't have that, the grip relies a lot on downforce and downforce itself moves a lot according the state of the car (braking, turning etc..).
What is true however is that slicks are usually providing better structural strength/flexibility ratio allowing for more overshooting of the grip.
Next year, imho the tyres will allow more aggressive style also because the tyre load sensitivity will be maybe lower but for sure the downforce will decrease far less the friction coefficient of the tyre.
The sum of F1 drivers about grooved tyre is that, they're not predictable (including graining and blistering effects), they don't tolerate a lot of overshoot, the simply are not grippy at all and finally...they don't like them!
But of course we'll have to wait july test to know the final compound for next year. I hope it will be as gripper as the one tested in april, all drivers were very happy, and lap times were very quick too.
You may also have heard about alonso talking about the slicks in a very surprising way, saying that the slicks because of more grip will allow to brake later...;Who said short distances were a problem?
FA also said that he thinks in case of spinning or shunt the slicks tyre will slow down the cars faster.
In regards to the braking distances for next year: Will they be able to put as much effort into the brake pedal as they do today, at top speed? Because, today they can hit the pedal as hard as they like at the end of a straight and not have them lock up until a relatively low speed (because the downforce is lost). Now, since the downforce levels are significantly lower for next year, will they be able to brake in the same way or will the cars be more sensitive to pedal input? The tyres shouldn't lock up as easily at lower speeds because of the higher grip but what about high speeds? Since tyre grip is multiplied by downforce, Ogami (or anyone else) do you have any specs or data (speculative or otherwise) for next year?
