Tire wear MBZ and Hamilton | FerrariChat

Tire wear MBZ and Hamilton

Discussion in 'F1' started by ebobh15, Nov 18, 2020.

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  1. ebobh15

    ebobh15 F1 Rookie
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    Nov 18, 2012
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    Hamilton did this on at least one occasion in the past, and this weekend, he stayed with his old tires for almost 50 laps, which gave him the margin of victory. Everyone else had at least two tire changes; with each one, the car noticeably picked up speed and lowered lap times.

    I know being in front results in less wear, as does not having to defend your position from a driver trying to overtake you. All considered, though, how does Hamilton extend his tire life to such ridiculous lengths? Bottas has a similar set-up, and has tire changes at about the same intervals as everyone else. Hamilton, though, just keep limping along, complaining here and there, and then winning the race.

    Is it the soon-to-be-outlawed suspension system? Is it that they get to test Pirellis more than others and know the actual life of the tires? I'm mystified, and don't know enough to explain such a variant outcome. I've seen it with a few other drivers in NASCAR and Indy, but tire wear usually dictates the outcome of most races, and Hamilton seems to have eternal tread wear. From those who know these things, what is it?

    Thanks for the insights...
     
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  2. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Regarding tire wear, there were other drivers who went 45+ laps on the intermediates notably Ocon, Kvyat, and Perez. Perez came in P2 but was 30 seconds behind Hamilton.
     
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  3. zygomatic

    zygomatic F1 Rookie
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    I think you nailed one of the key causes of Lewis' ability to go long on his tires in that he was racing, mostly unchallenged, at the front for much of his race. Clean air absolutely helps with tire life.

    Another thing that helped Lewis was the track drying. Looking at the cars at race's end, he and others were racing on what were pretty much slicks. Had the rain kept up, those tires would have been terrible - but on a dry / nearly dry track they worked well.

    I also think Lewis - like Perez - is generally good to his tires.
     
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  4. william

    william Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Because of the way they drive, some drivers are better than others in tyre (and brakes!) conservation.
    It's all about fluidity, even if it's hardly visible from outside.
     
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  5. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
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    The third thing which really (REALLY)_ helped Hamilton is that, it appears, that intermediate tires actually worked on a wet race track and went a dozen laps without graining on the new track surface, whereas the people who pitted for a fresh set of intermediates after lap 40, had a devil of a time getting them up to temperature without graining.

    Avoiding the second set of intermediates is what gave Lewis the race.
     
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  6. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

    Mar 24, 2008
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    The track temp was very low. Switching to new inters meant getting the tyres up to temp again. Inablity to do so would cost heaps of time, and could easily mean losing the race. If Lewis had pitted, Perez would be very close behind him. If Lewis couldn't get the tyres on temp quickly, Perez would quite easily pass him.

    Slicks weren't a real option as they have a higher operating temperatures.

    As Joe said, there were several drivers that drove more than 45 laps on the tyre too, unnoticed by everyone...
     
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  7. ricksb

    ricksb F1 Veteran

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    LH was concerned that if he’d pitted, it would have been too wet and he may have crashed. He had a infinitesimally small margin for error.
     
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  8. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

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    Yes he said he was afraid of a china 2007 pitlane repeat, as entrance to the pitlane was quite wet I think in Turkey.

    IIRC it wouldn't matter anyways as Bottas needed to score some points to keep the title fight alive, based on Hamilton not finishing the turkish GP and all the other next ones...and Bottas was far away from scoring points.
     
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  9. RobertJRB

    RobertJRB Karting

    Feb 8, 2012
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    Not sure for this race, there was a comparison on television about an almost equally fast lap of Verstappen and Bottas.
    They compared the race line of every corner.
    In general Max had to drive at the edge of the track way more than Bottas did to just gain the same lap time.
    Demanding more of his tyres, taking more risk.


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  10. ktu

    ktu F1 Rookie

    May 30, 2012
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    Awesome judgement from Lewis. It takes years for a driver to develop mentally, to gain decision making skills in the heat of the moment.
     
  11. william

    william Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Only experience can give you that insight, and Hamilton has always learnt from his mistakes.

    Racing is always more than raw speed, it's a whole package, and no one on the grid has it more than Hamilton.
     
  12. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Most drivers pitted several times for inters and I only saw one incident in the pit lane.

    Give credit to the ones that pitted in a slippery pit lane and didn't do a 2007 Hamilton incident.

    The door swings both ways gents.
     
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