Michelins Answer

[gttouring]

Michellin has proposed to be the single tyre supplier in F1 and offer one tyre for quali and race!
Michelin suggest ways to cut performance


Proposals put forward to reduce both speed and costs

Following Wednesday’s announcement by the FIA that the Formula One Technical Working Group has been asked to propose measures to reduce the performance of Formula One cars, tyre suppliers Michelin have offered a number of suggestions.
http://www.formula1.com/news/1818.html
Michelin say they feel their proposals to be very much in line with the FIA’s main objectives to control performances by reducing cornering speeds for reasons of safety, to offer a very substantial reduction in costs through the virtual elimination of tyre testing, and to improve the racing spectacle without introducing artificial rules.

After consultation with its partner teams Michelin produced various proposals, which the company feels could be introduced from as early as 2005. They are as follows:

· the use of one set of tyres for qualifying and the entire race
( i left the rest out- simply to underscore my point)

wow I wonder who said this before a million times? (well 3 or 4)
just yours truly (me -in case you didn't know) i would like to bask in my foresight glory.

okay joking aside. isn't this a huge step?!
passing! less grip more sliding and larger braking zones Huzzah

[grumpy1]

All gloating aside yes you have said it before but now to deflate your ego a tad.The team owners and Bridgestone would also have to agree to this.Michelin will have there own agenda and one set of tyres will not be part of it(no money in that)but I can see 3 sets maxium per race and one compound only rather than the current 6 or 7.
Unless the FIA rule on smaller wings it wont matter as teams like Ferrari,Williams and the like wil find a way to make the cars as fast as they are now.With Webber in a Williams anything can happen.He has showed that he can make a average car look good and MS well even his sunglasses are fast.

The Grumpy1

[Glen]

Bear in mind that this would make the mechanical grip level (relative to the aero grip) far, far lower. I can't see how a single tyre could possibly be implemented without far-reaching additional changes.

This is an interesting spin though:

"And finally, these ‘hard’ tyres will leave less rubber on the track, making the ‘dirty’ line a thing of the past and therefore encouraging overtaking, something everybody around F1 wants.”

[Kicking-back]

The one set of tyres per race is a very good idea.

Now, if only we can persuade them to have one tankful of fuel per race as well!

[JohnSSC]

Glen, I thought that was an interesting comment too! Maybe Michelin are on to something here.

I had always thought of the passing as being limited by the aero changing once a driver got close to the leading car. It makes sense though that you would lose a lot of grip and throw the balance of the tyres off by getting into the marbles and picking up big chunks of rubber.

I am liking this now for a whole different reason.

[gttouring]

welll widen the track...1st shouldn't be too expensive, and perhaps a little cross series parts use may be an answer for inexpensive short term solutions...sure the fast teams will be fast still, however less variable may creep up if you remove a few i suppose
i apologize for my gloating- but lately this is the only thing that haas gone according to my design s- it been rough
but that aside, I am wonderful.
(ha ha ha lol, i am just playing)

[BootsOntheSide]

There are a few obvious problems with it thoguh, the first being what will be done if it rains? Producing wet tyres to be durable for an entire race (even if the level of rain is constant) doesn't seem realistic, and the definition of when they can be changed, and how often, is an issue.

Therea re still other limits on overtaking as well, aprticualrly in the aerodynamic department, which still need sorting out.

I hoenstly think that simply removing refuelling, and as such removing 'free' tyre changes, and perhaps making the tyres regulated to be less grippy, would have the desired effect. In the 80s it was common for a driver to pull away from the pack, wear out the tyres, change them, and then catch and repass people (Mansell at Silverstone 1987 is pone classic example)

[429CJ]

This is the most easiest and cheapest way to slow down the cars.

[shiny side up!]

I don't buy that "dirty line will be a thing of the past" line at all!

However hard they make the tires, there is still going to be a rubbered-in line through every corner that will offer more grip. Even if that was not the case, dirt/dust/debris that does not come from the tires also settles on the track off-line, as there are no cars there 'dusting' the circuit off. And if somehow you got around all that, you would still have the problem of the support races still laying rubber on the track in the racing line... all in all, harder tires on F1 cars will not solve that problem!

I am for the harder tires, though, as a means to curb cornering speeds...

[gttouring]

it'll be like 1967

[Omega99]

I'll miss the tire war.