Pirelli want tyre rules changed

Although Pirelli is delighted with the way this season has panned out, the Italian company is open to being more creative with the tyre regulations next year if the teams are up for it.

“It is a problem with the testing, it is a genuine problem,” Hembery explained. “Going forward it remains a problem that we cannot get access to current cars, and nobody wants to seem to give us an answer or a solution.

“As much as Toyota has done a good job you can only go forward so far, before we have no access to testing. We want to be a good partner for the sport and we want to try and deliver the best product, but until we can test and verify our own results it is becoming a little bit more difficult.”

“The car doesn’t have the right sized fuel tank, and it doesn’t have the DRS. The 2013 regulations are probably going to be less downforce and higher top speed, so we need to sit down and find a solution.

“It is easy for the teams to say no, no, no. But we genuinely need a solution and one that doesn’t lead to accusations that we are favouring one team over another. We are not interested in that.

“We just want to do our job to the best of our ability and we don’t want to favour anyone between ourselves and the teams. We want to find a professional solution and we have to say, with the collaboration we have had so far, we will find a solution.

“Maybe we do test sessions where we change the car every time. Or all the cars have McLaren Electronics so we could block the channel for the team so no data could be read from the test, or we could make it available to everyone. There are a number of ways to do it.”

Hembery said that as well as the testing issue, he wanted to discuss with teams wider changes including revisions to the Q3 tyre rules and the possibility of qualifying tyres.

“We will probably catch up at a race event just after the summer probably September time,” explained Hembery.

“We will sit down with them and say: ‘Look this is what we have learned this year, this is what we think we can do better for you, and do you want us to do it?’

“The teams need to tell us what they want of course because at the end of the day it is the teams that decide where we go.

“At the end of the day we are a partner of the teams and the teams also need to give their point of view. We can have all the ideas in the world but at the end of the day if they don’t want to do it, they don’t want to do it.”

Pirelli announce tyre choices

Despite some bad press from Ferrari after the Spanish Grand Prix where the hard compoundtyres were used for the first time, the Italian manufacturer confirmed they will be sticking with the hard compound tyres in Britain.

“There has been a lot of comment in the last few weeks about the choice for Silverstone,” explained Hembery.

“Silverstone is one of the hard circuits in the season, it has a very aggressive surface, it has an unknown factor because the surface has been changed due to the new building work, and in terms of the tyre maker’s point of view it is probably one of the hardest circuits that we face during the year – together with Istanbul, Malaysia and going forward something like Spa and Monza for the high speeds and then Suzuka.

“Also, being in England, it’s very variable in terms of weather. This week they were having 30C, today I believe it’s down to about 15C. So again, from a tyre maker’s point of view, making a tyrework in that wide variety of conditions is a big challenge, hence the reason that we felt also offering the soft compound would allow us to operate in cooler conditions.”

The teams have a difference of opinion,” he said.

“We have asked their advice but clearly we don’t want to favour or penalise one over the other. We have to take a look at the whole field.

“We have 12 teams we look at and feel that we are going to make the right choice for them, and also the right choice for us of course. Our main concern is to make sure that we don’t penalise any team. Some people have decided that from Barcelona the hard tyre favours those with high downforce, so we have to be careful that the strategy based on hard tyres is not going to penalise any particular team.

“Equally we don’t want to be in the situation where we have five pitstops, so it is a balance we have to find.”

Swansea tyre factory fire

Firefighters say they are starting to bring a large blaze at a tyre storage factory under control, but it could be days before it is fully extinguished.

Fifty firefighters are tackling the incident at Fforestfach Industrial Estate near the former Mettoy site in Fforestfach, Swansea.

“There is greater potential for health problems in people with existing chest and lung problems such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and cardiac problems including angina,” said a police statement.

“The product is quite a number of feet thick in places and it’s a very deep seat burning and very slow burning. It’s a rubber product from reused vehicle tyres and it’s the by-product of the process that was used to recycle these tyres.

“There’s quite a few tonnes in there. We expect this to continue for a number of days yet.”

“It was blazing by the time we got there minutes after the alarm was raised, and (the fire) spread very quickly,” he said.

MICHELIN Pilot Super Sport Tyre Innovation

Michelin used the same safety margins as the civil aviation industry to ensure that theMICHELIN® Pilot® Super Sport tire meets the highest standards of safety.

Thanks to the latest digital simulation software, pressure and consequently temperatures, are distributed evenly across the tire’s contact patch.

Although the patch’s shape changes when cornering, the amount of rubber in contact with the road remains the same.

Where the rubber meets the road, drivers get up to 12% better handling and tires that last 2 times longer than leading competitors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ODznsCq6Eo&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Michelin tyres go the distance

South Lanarkshire operator Whitelaws Coaches has celebrated the 300,000th kilometre, and fifth anniversary, on a single set of high-grip Michelin drive axle tyres.

The XDN 2 Grip tyres were fitted as original equipment to a 49-seat Sunsundegui Sideral in 2006 and are still going strong. They currently have 10mm of tread remaining and are projected to cover a further 100,000 km before needing to be regrooved.

“We are amazed by the performance of the XDN2 Grip tyres. This set could well be seven years old before they need replacing,” comments Whitelaw.
“When a vehicle is doing long-distance, trans-European journeys, it’s quite remarkable for a tyreto last this long before even needing to be regrooved.”

Bridgestone tyres marks 50th anniversary at tyre plant in France

Bridgestone opened its doors to its new tyre plant in France to commemorate 50 years since they first opened.

Over 2000 visitors from the local area came to the open day at the Béthune factory in France to mark the occasion with guided tours, an exhibition on the history of the plant were in full swing.

“We are delighted that so many local residents came to mark the occasion; it reflects the important role that the Béthune plant plays in the community” said Mr. Bruno Capron, Managing Director, Bridgestone France Manufacturing.

‘Today 75% of production is oriented towards high-performance passenger-car tyres, including winter tyres. With a workforce of 1300, production capacity has reached 25,000 tyres a day.’

Pirelli Tyre Choice for F1

The Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli elected to bring its more conservative medium compound this weekend because it wanted to run it in race conditions before the British GP – and the easier time that drivers had with tyre degradation helped contribute to a less exciting race that has been the case at other events this year.

“What we saw in GP2 and GP3 was that there was a lot of the overtaking under braking, and there are not that many places to overtake here,” Hembery said.

“But the F1 cars have extremely good braking, so we lost that little opportunity.

“From our point of view probably the conservative choice of medium did not help. If we had gone the super soft route – it would not have worked tremendously well here because it is far too hot for it but people would have had to use it in qualifying and, if they had just got eight laps out of it, it would have pushed people harder on the soft, perhaps to the limit.

“They would only have needed a couple more laps out of each set on the soft, but some might have done it, some might have not and that might have brought into play a little bit more the performance difference of the cars as the tyres degraded more.

“We have seen that maybe we could have assisted but I am not sure of that of course because we didn’t see the DRS working in many places. It is one for all of us to look back on we need to look back and see what we could do.

“Having the super soft may well have created a slightly more interesting race, but I have doubts with the overtaking zones that it would not have changed a huge amount. It certainly would not have been as exciting as some of the other races we have seen.”

“What we saw in GP2 and GP3 was that there was a lot of the overtaking under braking, and there are not that many places to overtake here,” Hembery told AUTOSPORT.

“But the F1 cars have extremely good braking, so we lost that little opportunity.

“From our point of view probably the conservative choice of medium did not help. If we had gone the super soft route – it would not have worked tremendously well here because it is far too hot for it but people would have had to use it in qualifying and, if they had just got eight laps out of it, it would have pushed people harder on the soft, perhaps to the limit.

“They would only have needed a couple more laps out of each set on the soft, but some might have done it, some might have not and that might have brought into play a little bit more the performance difference of the cars as the tyres degraded more.

“We have seen that maybe we could have assisted but I am not sure of that of course because we didn’t see the DRS working in many places. It is one for all of us to look back on we need to look back and see what we could do.

“Having the super soft may well have created a slightly more interesting race, but I have doubts with the overtaking zones that it would not have changed a huge amount. It certainly would not have been as exciting as some of the other races we have seen.”

“I guess we were all a bit bored because we have been so used to so much excitement this year. We get a race that is relatively straightforward and we start worrying, but we are going now to Silverstone which is a step back to the other extreme. It is a high-speed aggressive circuit.”

Pirelli to speed up tyres for 2013

Pirelli is planning to make F1 tyres ‘significantly faster’ by 2013 and could elect to develop a special tyre specifically for qualifying.

Paul Hembry, Pirelli director was talking about the future of Pirelli tyres and the possibilities of what they could do.

He said “After Silverstone we will get together and show the teams a few things,” he said. “Maybe we will increase the number of different tyres; maybe we’ll bring three compounds to a race, maybe with a total of six to choose from.

“I don’t know yet. There are a lot of ideas.”

As well as quicker tyres to fit in with a change in F1 regulations in 2013, a ‘super-sticky’ qualifying tyre could be developed which would be good for one quick lap.

“In the end for something like that, the decision is with the teams,” Hembery added. “They might say no.”

Vettel thinks Red Bull’s speed will increase

Vettel thinks that 2011 Red Bull still has plenty of development potential and is confident the team will unlock more race pace over the coming weeks.

“I think if you look at the championship so far it has been tight and it will stay tight,” he told ESPNF1 in aninterview. “People will obviously try to catch up as much as they can and try to win races and we have to make sure that we keep improving our car ourselves.

“In terms of room for development, I think there are always things you can improve. You’ll find yourself in a position where you’re thinking of things to improve on the car that you didn’t think were possible a couple of weeks before. Day by day we have to go step by step and find new things. Back at the factory we have guys trying to make things better in many ways, not just aero wise but also mechanically, and we do bring a lot of new parts to the track. We just have to hope that they work and that they make the car faster.”

“Every race is different,” he said. “With the tyres especially this year, it’s usually a different picture we have after the race compared to what we had at the start. If you look at this year there were some races where we didn’t perform according to what we expected. But we have two or three things we are working on and we have to do better in the future.

“There are no secrets. Working with the tyres, obviously in the race there are so many things coming up, you start with a very heavy car so the forces are different and the loads that you have to put into the car and into the tyres. I think all in all we have a very fast package and we just have to make sure we can use it no matter what the conditions are and no matter what stage of the race we are at.”

Bridgestone Costa Rica Announces Expansion

Bridgestone de Costa Rica (BSCR) – announced the opening in Costa Rica of its Financial Shared Services Centre for Latin America, the Bridgestone Americas Tyre Operations

“Costa Rica is a great place to do business”, said Gary Garfield, CEO and President of Bridgestone Americas. “We have received government support. The human resource is highly trained and motivated, so there are many strategic advantages for investing in the country. Placing our financial services centre here, we will be able to function much more efficiently to all financial requirements with operations throughout Latin America”, he said.

“This structure will improve financial services for business units throughout Latin America”, said Humberto Gomez, President of BATO”. This centre of excellence will help the company grow and strengthen our talented team of collaborators so that can provide world class service to our business in the present and the future.”

“My administration will continue to advance the deepening of the educational processes, development of technical expertise, strengthening human capabilities and technological innovation and mastery of the languages ​of our trading partners, with the aim of meeting the demands of foreign direct investment”, said Chnchilla.

Bridgestone warn motorists of First Rain

Bridgestone are warning drivers to be cautious as the weather has predicted to change from being the hottest time of the year to the wettest.

The tyres manufacturer warns that ‘First Rain’, the phrase given to the first downpour following a period of hot, dry weather, is particularly dangerous for drivers as oil and lubricants on the road surface increase the chances of skids and spins.

“As cars drive along in the dry they leave behind a small residue of greasy substances which accumulate on the road until rains wash them away. The first burst of rain can bring these to the surface and markedly reduce tyre traction.

“If your tyres haven’t been inflated for a while, or they are too worn, you are much more likely to have an accident.”

Pirelli want red flag rules altered

Formula One should change the rules to prevent drivers being allowed to put fresh tyres on their cars if a race is halted like Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery has suggested.

“I can understand there is a safety consideration but I am thinking about it more from a fans’ perspective to be honest,” Hembery told autosport.com.

“I’ve had a lot of people shout at me from the boats around the harbour and say, why were they allowed to change? It took away something from the race — and the big question was could they (the tyres) have lasted?

“That is what we were all asking with six laps to go and that was going to be the excitement: would Sebastian hit the cliff of tyre degradation?”

“I don’t really understand why they are allowed to change tyres, but maybe I am missing something,” he said.

“I think it was a bit of a shame with the red flag of course, because if they hadn’t changed thetyres, then they would have had to fight to the end as they were all on different strategies, and the tyre wear and life was very different.”

Massa’s verdict on medium tyres

Felipe Massa has said that the new medium compound tyre that Pirelli is supplying at the European Grand Prix is like the old-specification hard tyre used earlier in the season.

“I drove with the Medium in winter testing,” Massa said. “But it was much colder then, which means it behaved very differently and a couple of weeks ago, in Montreal, we were given the opportunity to evaluate it quickly during free practice, but the Canadian track surface is very different to the one in Valencia.

“If I had to sum up the new tyre, I would say it is very much like the original Hard tyre we had from Pirelli earlier this season. After a few races, they changed it, making it harder still and this Medium feels like the original Hard. The Ferrari engineers have been working intensely on adapting the car to suit the tyres, as we have struggled more with the harder end of the compound range and we will test again a modified suspension to try and make it more suited to them.”

“One of the criticisms of this street circuit was that it turned out to be very difficult to overtake other cars, but this year we have the Downforce Reduction System and, like in Canada, we have two DRS zones where we can operate it. For sure, this will change the characteristics of the race, making it much easier to overtake.

“However, you have to do everything you can to ensure your car is competitive throughout the whole race, because this is the direction we have seen things go this year, in that if you are not competitive then it is very easy to lose places to other cars. In the past, before DRS, even if your car was slower than the one behind, you could defend your position more easily, keeping the car behind and not getting passed.”