| Author | Message | ||
| N'din (Abangdin)
Junior Member Username: Abangdin Post Number: 72 Registered: 7-2003 |
Pirelli is a small company. They themselves admit they can't afford to go F1 racing. The budget for F1 is so huge that they'll break thier bank if they try. | ||
| MFZ (Kiyoharu)
Member Username: Kiyoharu Post Number: 303 Registered: 2-2003 |
Warren: Tires right now are a hot topic with the issue of width on the Michelin tires after they have been worn down. We will see how that plays out. With respect to new companies coming into F1 it is indeed a very expensive proposition as a set of race tires cost approximately US$5,000 for a set of 4 tires. The Tire companies provide these free of charge to any team that signs on with it. You can imagine what this costs over a season. In recent memory Goodyear probably derived the best benefit of its F1 experience and eventually bowed out citing financial reasons and probably concern over the eventual Bridgestone/Ferrari partnership success. The tires are not exactly free, I believe the price is somewhat subsidized. Paul Stoddart of Minardi earlier this year complained that Bridgestone were charging too much for the tire contracts. Bridgestone had already tasted success with the McLaren team before Goodyear decided to pull out of F1 due to your stated reason (financial). Goodyear would not have forseen the close relationship now enjoyed between Ferrari and Bridgestone, since when Goodyear left, Bridgestone became the sole supplier for two years, so no matter what car wins, it's on the same Bridgestones as the other cars. Pirelli had already tried F1 with dismal success, so they now are concentrating on other motorsports like motorcycle racing and their deal with Maserati when it goes racing in FIA GT. | ||
| Warren Balla (West662)
New member Username: West662 Post Number: 8 Registered: 8-2003 |
No doubt. I hope it doesn't come down to that either. 'If a car wins, well it is the car or driver. If a car looses, it is always the tires...' Nicely put | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1990 Registered: 10-2002 |
Jack, thanks for that comment. However you're not that far behind in posted messages.  Latest word from Michelin is, that they're now so upset, they threaten to boycott the Monza GP. That would be a travesty. It would probably hand the WC over to Ferrari, but what a shallow victory. I hope it won't come to that. | ||
| Darrell Pardy (Dpardyferrari)
New member Username: Dpardyferrari Post Number: 27 Registered: 8-2002 |
Warren: Tires right now are a hot topic with the issue of width on the Michelin tires after they have been worn down. We will see how that plays out. With respect to new companies coming into F1 it is indeed a very expensive proposition as a set of race tires cost approximately US$5,000 for a set of 4 tires. The Tire companies provide these free of charge to any team that signs on with it. You can imagine what this costs over a season. In recent memory Goodyear probably derived the best benefit of its F1 experience and eventually bowed out citing financial reasons and probably concern over the eventual Bridgestone/Ferrari partnership success. | ||
| Jack (Gilles27)
Intermediate Member Username: Gilles27 Post Number: 1345 Registered: 3-2002 |
Welcome, Warren. As you can tell, a lot of posts doesn't necessarily guarantee someone knows what they're talking about! Just kidding, Andreas. I'm with him in feeling that, with just one manufacturer, the focus can be more on the racing. Tire manufacturers have definitely come and gone over the decades, and as you learn more about F1, you will see how much change there has been. Other past suppliers include Dunlop, Firestone and Avon. Goodyear has had the most consistent presence, though they bowed out a few years ago, citing economic reasons. It's debatable what benefit companies derive from their investment in racing, though I feel with something like tires, there is a lot of positive brand image to be had, plus whatever technology trickles down to road tires. I would not be surprised to see an eventual return by Goodyear. It's in their blood to go racing. | ||
| Andreas Forrer (Tifosi12)
Intermediate Member Username: Tifosi12 Post Number: 1978 Registered: 10-2002 |
Warren, welcome to the board! Tire manufacturers in F1 come and go. From a racing perspective it is always best if there is only one manufacturer. We had that situation for a while with Bridgestone. But F1 is open to other competitors who are free to enter or not. So Michelin came back (they used to dominate in other decades). It is up to the manufacturers of tires to join or not. However once a tire company enters, there are some rules on how many teams it has to serve. E.g. Pirelli couldn't just come in and only serve Ferrari, they would be forced to supply to other teams as well to keep some level of fairness. Personally I never quite understood why a tire manufacturer joins (well of course they do get the media exposure): If a car wins, well it is the car or driver. If a car looses, it is always the tires... | ||
| Warren Balla (West662)
New member Username: West662 Post Number: 4 Registered: 8-2003 |
I'm only 18 years old and have been watching Formula 1 for maybe 2 seasons now. Im still not familiar with the ins and outs of the sport. So bare with me, If I ask a stupid or obvious question, save the smart ass comments! lol. What I want to know is why are Bridgestone and Michelin the only Tyre manufacturers in Formula 1? Are they the only teams with the technology today to develop a good F1 racing tyre? Or is it bigger than that? I mean, Ferrari has had a lot of Sucess with Pirelli in the GT series. Also, in numerous Challenge Stradale tests, the drivers wrote lengthy and positive feedback on the P-Zero, some saying they had never driven with a tire that could deliver so much. Is it possible for Pirelli to create a Tyre for F1? Maybe with their racing success, and their genius engineers, they could come up with a Tyre with better performance than both Michelin and Brigestone. Is that possible? |