Oops! My bad.... Sorry, 2012. [And some suggestions are 2013 I believe] Thanks for paying attention Cheers, Ian
and giving you the benefit of the doubt With only one maker willing to compete looks like we'll be staying with a single supplier. But things have been known to change in F1. I'm usually all for competition but a single supplier may be the best answer in that we've more than enough distractions as it is.
Thankyou. +1 I dunno - Is a tire war a "distraction"? An "attraction"?..... I guess I could argue this both ways, but there's no question a tire war reduces lap times, which is generally considered a good thing (?) Cheers, Ian
It adds another layer of interest. Old Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times" IMO F1 hasn't shown that it can handle the present level of complexity.
Could we have another tire war: Bridgestone vs. Pirelli?? Feff Bridgestone Bosses In Push To Stay In F1 By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, May 11th 2010, 08:58 GMT Bridgestone's Formula 1 bosses are to make a renewed push to try and get Japanese company board members to reconsider the decision to quit the sport at the end of this year, AUTOSPORT has learned, following pressure from teams for it to continue in grand prix racing. As F1 teams try and close in on a decision on tyres for next season, outfits have begun efforts to get Bridgestone to go back on its decision to quit. Bridgestone's motorsport director Hiroshi Yasukawa met with F1 team representatives several times over the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, where he was informed that teams are now keen for the Japanese company to remain. And that message from teams was reinforced to Bridgestone's new European CEO Makio Ohashi, who was present over the Barcelona weekend. Although Bridgestone's stance that it is quitting F1 at the end of this year remains unchanged for now, Yasukawa has revealed that he will inform Japanese company chiefs about how keen F1 teams are for them to reconsider their plans. Speaking to AUTOSPORT, Yasukawa said: "After each race meeting we make a report to Japan, so are going to report to our top board members about what has happened this weekend. Mr Ohashi has also realised that F1 is very important for Bridgestone. "I really appreciate the teams' approach, and we are happy that they still trust in our company and they wish Bridgestone to say. Maybe we have to reconsider because of the market and the environment. We also understand that F1 itself is more concerned about the environment now, and there is a new power train coming. "However, nothing has changed yet. Our company has said, very unfortunately, that we have to stop at the end of this year." F1 teams are set to have further discussions in Monaco this weekend to try and agree on their preferred route for tyres for next season - with outfits reckoning that Pirelli and Michelin offer the best option for next year if Bridgestone does not remain. Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry said that teams were calm about the situation, but well aware that a decision had to be made quickly. "I think we have got to make a solution and come to a decision in the next 10 days or so," he explained. "The encouraging thing is we are in a massively better position than three or four weeks ago, when maybe we had one option open to us. Now we have three and discussions are going on trying to persuade Bridgestone to stay."
Answering your Q - "A definite maybe"..... Although, I'm not sure the B/Stone guys will be able to convince their bosses and a war may be between Michelin & Pirelli. It doesn't appear that Avon is getting much love. *IF* there are two (or more?) suppliers I think one key is that one of 'em can't cherry pick their teams - Right now, I'd want RBR, Mcl, Merc and Ferrari, and the rest can go somewhere else..... *That* wouldn't be fair. Is a tire war even a good thing? [I can feel a poll coming on ] Cheers, Ian
JANUARY 16, 2018 Pirelli defends expansion to seven tyre types Pirelli has defended its decision to expand its range of tyre compounds for 2018. The number of compounds for the coming season has blown out to seven, with the introduction of the 'superhard' and the 'hypersoft' options. One criticism is that fans struggling to understand F1 now have an even tougher task. "You cannot always please everyone," Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola told Auto Motor und Sport. "But it surprised me that it made such big waves. Our task now is to explain to people that it does not complicate things. "There are still three compounds per weekend, and if you take the superhard out, you only have to remember six colours. That's not rocket science," he said. However, Isola admitted that Pirelli had considered trying to simplify the colouring system amid the criticism. "We considered saying there is only a hard, medium and soft each weekend and then using the same three colours for all races," he revealed. "But in my opinion that is not the right message. In formula one there are always different aero packages, cooling systems, setups and so on, which is part of the sport."
