Sauber have a tyre advantage - Bridgestone

[ajprice]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81937

So from Bridgestone's data from the testing sessions, the top four teams all have similar tyre wear characteristics, but the Sauber is a lot easier on its tyres. As it can do a better job of looking after its tyres, it may be able to get different strategies and options for qualifying and race stops that the top four won't be able to do. Interesting .

[John D.]

Maybe it just drives a lot slower round the bends?

[Drederick Tatum]

Are they looking to do a Brawn I wonder?

[ajprice]

Of the 'new' teams, I think Sauber are the most likely to give the top four a run.

[Drederick Tatum]

Off to the Bookies!

[308mate]

I'd rather have a driver advantage.

[toovo1985]

it's a shame that today f1 is much more about the cars, the tyres and strategies than the pilots...

[Drederick Tatum]

toovo1985 said:

it's a shame that today f1 is much more about the cars, the tyres and strategies than the pilots...

sad but kinda true

[ajprice]

308mate said:

I'd rather have a driver advantage.

I can think of a lot of worse driver combinations than Pedro the ex McLaren test driver and Kobiyashi who was impressive in the last 2 races, he gained a lot of chat about him here, even if he does seem a bit marmite in people's opinions between 'great showing for a rookie' and 'dangerous'.

[MiniMan64]

I was oh so close to putting some money on Sauber getting some sort of result pre-testing but chickened out at the last moment. Shame.

[John D.]

Drederick Tatum said:

toovo1985 said:

it's a shame that today f1 is much more about the cars, the tyres and strategies than the pilots...

sad but kinda true

Kinda always been true though. Most of the great drivers of the past also had a great car.

IMO this years rule changes will bring it back towards the driver a bit as his style and approach will impact the tyre life/brake life/fuel load during the race.

[Galileo]

toovo1985 said:

it's a shame that today f1 is much more about the cars, the tyres and strategies than the pilots...

`Twas ever thus.

[Mazda Baiter]

Gaz. said:

Drederick Tatum said:

Are they looking to do a Brawn I wonder?

Maybe. There are far more hot races than cold races so it will pay to have low tyre wear, and if you need one less pitstop that's 20-30 seconds off your total race time.

The stops won't take that long anymore.

[GTP rpm]

Mazda Baiter said:

Gaz. said:

Drederick Tatum said:

Are they looking to do a Brawn I wonder?

Maybe. There are far more hot races than cold races so it will pay to have low tyre wear, and if you need one less pitstop that's 20-30 seconds off your total race time.

The stops won't take that long anymore.

Have they shortened all pitlanes then?

[Rude-boy]

ajprice said:

...even if he does seem a bit marmite in people's opinions between 'great showing for a rookie' and 'dangerous'.

Last time i saw a debut couple of races cause tattle like his it was Schumi's number one Irish fan in the drivers seat

[Mazda Baiter]

GTP rpm said:

Mazda Baiter said:

Gaz. said:

Drederick Tatum said:

Are they looking to do a Brawn I wonder?

Maybe. There are far more hot races than cold races so it will pay to have low tyre wear, and if you need one less pitstop that's 20-30 seconds off your total race time.

The stops won't take that long anymore.

Have they shortened all pitlanes then?

I feel I'm walking into a whoosh-parrot trap here, but here goes nothing.

If a stop used to take 25 seconds over all (including time spent driving down the pit-lane) for a 6 second fill up, that time will be reduced by the lack of fueling. If Christian Horner is to be believedn (I wouldn't personally believe him if he told me that the Pope was Catholic) pitstops for tyres will be around the 2 seconds mark. This means that what previously was a 25 second stop will now be a 21 second stop. iirc, Brasil is the longest pitlane on the calender now that F1 doesn't go to the A1-ring anymore. Not sure how long each of the pits takes to travel down. Interesting article to be had out of those statistics.

[T89 Callan]

toovo1985 said:

it's a shame that today f1 is much more about the cars, the tyres and strategies than the pilots...

I suggest you have a look back at history.

F1 has always been about the cars, drivers are just hired hands to get the quickest car to the finish.

You might need to remove those specs though as the have a very heavy rose tint.

[LocoBlade]

I wonder whether its related to the fact they were generally running less fuel than others for most of pre season testing, most informed people in the pit lane seem to conclude that at least some of their speed was down to lower (not necessarily low) fuel than the big teams ran for the majority of the time.

Also if they can't work their tyres on demand then they're going to struggle in qualifying to get sufficient heat into them to qualify well enough to be a threat, a la Brawn's issue last year. If they genuinely are significantly easier then there may be the odd time they can go softer in qualifying than others to offset issue, but that won't always be the case.

Edited by LocoBlade on Tuesday 9th March 21:14

[_dobbo_]

MiniMan64 said:

I was oh so close to putting some money on Sauber getting some sort of result pre-testing but chickened out at the last moment. Shame.

I stuck a tenner each way on Kobayashi, probably a silly bet but nets me about £300 if I get it right!