Bring Michelin back!

Not this again. The tires are made to the specs laid down by the series. Why is Michelin suddenly going to do a better job than Pirelli under those circumstances?

 

Agree, it doesn't matter who makes them, what matters is what is asked for them to do....

 

I vote for a real tire war (and real testing).

 

Because Michelin will impose some parameters if they get the contract.

Michelin will not get into F1 to drag its name in controversy again.

 

I was at Indy
I like michelin
got my money back
free tickets for the next year's race
and a tee shirt

 

So was I. Hope they never return to F1. The parade lap at Indy was a disgrace.

 

The sport isn't run to keep the drivers 'happy'.

Some of the top teams have already said they don't want 18" rims.

 

And let 17/18 inches tyres ruin the sport? No thanks..

 

I fail to see how it'll be ruined.

The sound is terrible compared to how it was, yet we all still watch. It's responsible for a certain percentage of fans leaving, but unable to conclude how many (plenty left due to never ending merc domination).

18s are purely aesthetic for us the fans. People also said the >2009 cars where hideous with big front wings, narrow and tall rears and that it would ruin the sport. About none left.

 

I'm a Michelin fan. They make the best street tires in the world right now IMHO. But F1 tires are made to the series spec, so manufacturer is almost irrelevant as long as they meet those criteria. I don't feel strongly one way or another honestly. I don't know that large wheels actually make an f1 car look better; they might look a little goofy.

 

#1; They're French, and I'm a Brit!
#2; I'll never forget the Indy debacle; Swore at the time I'd never darken my rims with their products again.

Seems who gets the new contract is now 100% down to Bernie.

No tire wars - Something I could go both ways on; They'd get quicker over time, but if you're with the "wrong" guys you're pretty much hosed before you even start.

As for Michelins demand that they go to 18" (19"?) wheels; That's actually something I'd like to see. We'd get used to it a lot faster than the designers! They currently get a lot of the suspension movement ("compliance"?) from those huge sidewalls - Take that away and they'd have to seriously rethink suspension/spring/damper design; A nice challenge for them that may just shake things up some; The cream will always rise, but it might be fun to watch.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I'm answering just to tease you...
They have a reputation for producing good tyres, so most frenchmen like their tyres; on the other hand, the firm has also a reputation for promoting secrecy as an obsession, demanding total devotion of its workers to the company, etc...a bit like "The Firm" with Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman, see what I mean?...not necessarly the most likeable employer, if you like your own independance.

Rgds

 

Time to let go, Ian. You'll feel better......

 

I hear you. French/US relations are not the greatest either. I also have some companies I won't do business with personally, but that is the result of them burning me.

I'm just judging them based on the quality of their products which I've used - they have been excellent overall.

I'm sure it will all be on the up and up then : P

To me, it isn't exciting. I care about the teams and the drivers competing. Tire competition is not sexy to me personally; more of a distraction/annoyance.

What's interesting in that article is that, although the wheels will get larger, so will the total diameter. This was not clearly stated before. So the sidewall will only get 1.5" smaller. So yes some re-engineering is required, but not as much if they kept the overall diameter the same. Sounds like they think there are other advantages also related to ride height which I don't fully understand, but it sounds interesting.

 

Looks are important Bas. Yes, we still watch, but after watching the race live, last year, I will never go back for another live race again. It's just painful to watch.

The 2009 cars were indeed hideous, but put he 2015 cars side by side the 2009 cars..and see how much it has already been evolved. Me thinks the 2009 change should have never happened, to begin with.

 

There's no accounting for taste, but I don't think the pic attached is horrible or an abomination of F1 cars. I care far more for the noise. The wheelcaps we had in 2008 or thereabouts where hideous and I didn't turn my tv in horror.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

For race tires we need 2 tire manufacturers.

 

Agreed. Having a single tire manufacturer is a dumb idea.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

F1 is about going as fast as you can for a grand prix distance . Don't care about MPG or how many times you stop

 

+1

Personally, I don't like these huge sidewalls. They remind me of flares trousers...

Also, 18'' rims would make the cars more ... relevant.

 

Yes, and teams should be allowed to choose their tyres at each GP, to stop suppliers to favour a particular team each.

 

Am I the only one who finds it curious that it's taken Michelin all this time to clarify what their plans for F1 really were?

Michelin announced in May that they were interested in returning to F1, but only if they could introduce durable tyres that could last a whole race distance and 18" tyres with smaller sidewalls, to which Bernie stated he had no interest whatsoever in going down that route.

Now,some 4 months later in September, Michelin state that what they really meant with their May announcement was that they want to introduce tyres that last a specific period of time during races with no gradual drop off in performance during that period, thus keeping the tyre stops rather than having tyres that last the whole race, and that the 18" tyres they were talking about don't really have that much of a low profile after all!

It's almost as if they announced their original ideas for F1, found out that there was no way these plans would be accepted, and so went away to try to figure out how to rehash their original statements to make it more acceptable to Bernie and become a contender for the contract again.

To My mind, if their latest statement is what they meant all along then they would have argued that back in May as soon as Bernie stated he was not interested, rather than coming out with it 4 months later!