Ferrari vs Renault in 2007.

[Mr V]

Indy aside, Renault have the best car this year (with Alfonso in it at least). All teams are on Bridgestone rubber next year, which has to favour Ferrari, especially at the first few races in 08.

So, assuming Renault, have a very good car next year (no reason to think they won't) and, for arguements sake, they have Kimi as lead driver (as rumours suggest), and Ferrari's car, with Michael in it, is roughly the same as this year, slightly, though not drastically inferior.

Will Ferrari's relationship with Bridgestone be enough to bridge (no pun intended ) the gap to Renault using different rubber?

Before anyone jumps down my throat, i'm not trying to say that Bridgestone will automatically favour Ferrari next year, just it seems logical that they will have a default advantage due to their long working relationship

[Knowlesy]

I suspect it will make little difference.

Ferrari may have an advantage initially, but this will soon wear away.

And, you never know, the tyres may well be a different characteristic. Or Ferrari may make a rubbish car. Or.....

[kipper]

I think its quite logical that Ferrari may have an initial advantage in that they start from a higher level in assesing the implications in set up from the tyres. That said, I can't imagine that any advantage would last for more than a couple of races, as the others quickly get up to speed and testing. That is of course, assuming that the scenario that Mr V outlines holds.

[Racer Scott]

Do we mean '07?

The last time F1 switched to 1 tyre manufacturer, 1999, I recall most of the ex-Goodyear teams adapted to Bridgestone relatively well - notably Jordan.

[Dutton]

I am going to work on the premise Mr V means 2007, as opposed to 2008.

Let us not forget Ferrari are not the only team who stand to gain this (potential) advantage.

I would think there may be something of an advantage initially, but, as others have said, this would likely not last beyond the initial fly-aways.

However, that is a pretty important period.

[rocketracer]

Citing williams as an example this season, they were relatively quick out of the box when changing tyre manufacturers (they also changed other parts of the car obviously, so maybe its not so easy to judge). And that was with a relatively small, under funded team. Toyota however had problems and the changeover was highly noticable. Thus, i think some teams will appear to struggle initially to come to grips with the change of rubber, but this will not necessarily be across the board.

I expect with Renaults technical capabilities, that it wont be much of a problem to change over, and the first few races may not show any deficit at all.

However it might be fair to say that there may be certain circumstances during the course of the season where Renault may be less resourced to perform optimally (relative to ferrari) in certain configurations, or set of (ie track / ambient heat) circumstances, where their tyre data is not quite as extensive, or where they go into uncharted territory in knowing precisely how the car will best perform. And this may not be limited to the first few races, if the same scenario had not been encountered in testing etc.

Its too hard to say who will come up with the best car for next year, i would say Renault, Ferrari, Mclaren would be favoured to be strong once more, but it would not be surprising to see toyota especially, honda and bmw to a lesser extent improving their relative standings with the change of rubber...

[Greenback]

Assuming if all key engineers and MS remain at Ferrari, the team will have almost no unknown factors to deal with. (Partly also due to the fact that there is no major rule change for 2007)

Renault on the other hand, will have to deal with new tyres and a new driver. I believe this will create a temparary set back for the team, especially if Alonso has been a big contributor to car development and tyre selection at renault.

I believe most team will be able to deal with tyre change for europe races, but for far away races in ME, ASIA and Americas, the new bridgestone runners might face some problem.

[Hitech]

Did I not see a suggestion some months back that the sole tyre supplier should start with a totally fresh design to avoid giving any teams a familiarity advantage?

[Greenback]

Originally Posted by Hitech

Did I not see a suggestion some months back that the sole tyre supplier should start with a totally fresh design to avoid giving any teams a familiarity advantage?

Flavio was the guy who suggested that, if FIA accept the proposal, it will not be fair to those ex-michelin runners who choose to switch 1 year ahead of schedule.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Racer Scott

Do we mean '07?

Originally Posted by Dutton

I am going to work on the premise Mr V means 2007, as opposed to 2008.

My apologies guys, Dutton is correct (than you sir! ), i meant 2007!

[Bononi]

I would discuss about it, but I don't think Kimi will be at Renault. I can be wrong, but I'm too pragmatic to elaborate about it.

[Racer Scott]

I'm increasingly thinking Kimi will remain in the team he's in now...