Head wants new tyres for Williams

[Crash and Burn]

There was no hiding the disappointment in the BMW-Williams team after their two cars took the front row of the grid for the European GP yet could only show a 4th place finish for their efforts.

The big problem in the race was tyres. Ralf Schumacher's Michelins went off, but not as quickly as Juan-Pablo's which made his car "almost undriveable".

"At the moment McLaren are slightly easier on their rear tyres than we are and we paid the penalty," admitted BMW-Williams Technical Director Patrick Head. "It's something we're addressing, but we just didn't have it ready for this race. But I'm expecting by Silverstone we'll have made progress there."

In Canada Ralf found it difficult to match the traction of Kimi Raikkonen and again at the Nurburgring the McLarens had the edge over the BMW-Williams cars. Head is well aware of what has to be done. "It's a problem we've had for some time and we are attending to it," he confirmed, "but we were unable to bring the changes we're making to this race."

Head was full of praise for Ferrari and the margin of their victory at the European GP, but added, "hopefully soon we'll be able to bring some equipment along to turn the tables on them."

[freud]

Yeah I was following the race on digital feed and one of the inboard cameras on JPM's car clearly showed that at the time of the incident with DC, his tyres had converted to slicks. Hope Michelin does a better job at Silverstone.

[Wrex]

After watching the race again, I cant help but feel that Williams biggest mistake was strategy. Its fine to say the Michelins went off, but surely they were assessing wear rates all weekend.

IMO (although not highly regarded in the F1 community ) they would have been better on a two stop strategy. They would still have finished behind the Ferrari's, but should have comfortably stayed ahead of the McLarens.

They had at least half a second advantage on them, and over 60 laps that leaves more than enough room for the additional pit stop.

What am I missing?

[freud]

Hmm, thats a good assumption. Though I have one reservation. Had the Williams duo came out behind a Renault or Sauber after their first pit, that would've effectively ended their chances for a top 4 finish. Though still considering the fact that their tyre wear was disastrous, two-pitstops might've been a better option.

[f1manoz]

I agree Wrex. The McLaren's certainly had nowhere near as many tyre problems as the Williams. Is that down to driving or chassis? I'd probably go with the latter.

Something was wrong as early as the morning warm-up anyway when Ferrari pulled a blinder.

[Valve Bounce]

Thre was somethinh wrong at Williams at hte morning warm up as JPM had a heated argument then. Things went down from there. WREX is 100% correct - a 2 stop strategy would have put Williams in a better position, and probably not only reduced tyre wear, but the extra change of tyres would have brought better results. Ferrari have been displaying great strategy for the past two years, while Williams just cannot match Brawn with Brains.

Valve[img]http://www.**************************/smilies/bouncy.gif[/img]

[Glen]

Another factor is the compromise that Williams have to live with between their own chassis requirements and those of Mclaren. Mclaren definately have the edge on tyre wear and will therefore press Michelin for softer, more marginal tyres - in the current climate of needing to do something, anything, about Ferrari dominance Michelin are understandably only too happy to oblige. Michelin have already said that they will be a little more conservative in their choice for Silverstone, so I guess they already had their ears bent by Patrick Head.

The ultra-soft tyres make perfect sense where overtaking is difficult (Monaco and Hungary) but otherwise the teams would do well to look at the Ferrari strategy and optimise their race set-up rather than the qualifying one.

[Adam43]

I wonder how much improvement the changes to the Williams will provide in terms of tyre wear?

To quickly pick up on a point that f1manoz made, I agree it is the McLaren chassis that is making the difference. I can't see Kimi being that kind to tyres!

Of the other Michelin teams, Renault seem to cope with wear quite well. As do Toyota, Jaguar and Minardi. (although I have to admit I can't remember too much detail about these teams). However, it does seem to be only be a major problem for Williams.

[Adam43]

Ranault did make two stops, so maybe they had a little trouble too.

There is quite a good interview with Patrick Head on Autosport.com> I'll highlight a couple of the Q&As

Q: Were you surprised that Ferrari ran two stops and disappeared?
"With our tyre problem maybe that's what we should have done. It was always an option for a faster race."

Q: Are the tyres too soft, or is the car using them too much?
"A bit of both, maybe."

I also liked the last question:

Q: Any idea if Silverstone is going to suit you more or less than the last few races?
"We'll damn well make sure that it does."

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Glen
Another factor is the compromise that Williams have to live with between their own chassis requirements and those of Mclaren.

A good point Glen, you beat me to it! Had McLaren stayed on Bridgestones then maybe Williams could be enjoying a relationship with michelins that Ferrari are with Bridgestone!

Another interesting point, made by Peter Windsor on SKY, sunday morning! Michelin seem to be going for a softer option than Bridgestone in the hope that the Michelins cars can lock out the front of the grid (as we saw at Nurburgring) in the hope that they can keep the Ferrari's behind in the race! The problem is, it ain't working, the Ferrari's on the Japanese rubber are just too fast!

Maybe, when Williams signed a contract with Michelin, it should have been stipulated that the McLaren wouldn't be allowed "joint no 1 status" with Williams, but, Williams never were the best at stratergy, on or off the track!

[Jay]

I'm as big of Williams fan as anyone, and as much as I hate to say it, I think Patrick has it wrong this time.

They've tested the tires in practice and testing sessions and should know about what they're capable of and how the wear will go. If the Williams car or their drivers are tougher on tires, then that is something they have to adjust to. If they knew tire wear would be a problem, then one would think that the driving style and setup would be adjusted accordingly.

[Jay]

Originally posted by Valve Bounce
Thre was somethinh wrong at Williams at hte morning warm up as JPM had a heated argument then.

No, actually that is just a routine JPM goes through once every race weekend. Nothing wrong there.

[Wrex]

Originally posted by AdamAshmore
Q: Were you surprised that Ferrari ran two stops and disappeared?
"With our tyre problem maybe that's what we should have done. It was always an option for a faster race."

Thanks for that Adam, I was wondering why nobody had mentioned it (there are some clever people here) and figured I'd missed something painfully obvious.

As I said, I dont think it would have won them the race, but it would have kept both the Willy boys out of McLaren Land.

Originally posted by mr v
Williams never were the best at stratergy, on or off the track!

Where do you get that from Mr v??? :confused: