Soft tyres - Am I missing something??

[RT/10Dave]

I am more than a little confused about the soft tyres idea in F1...
(You know... the ones James Allen takes it upon himself to explain have a white stripe around them several times, during every race)

It appears pretty clear to me that these tyres are pretty crap, they wear too quickly and most of the teams appear to be struggling with them in general and hence don't particularly seem to like using them...

So, Why? (Why produce them? Why make everyone use them? Why Bother?)

Am I missing something? Are they good on certain tracks? or is it just something to try and add a little more confusion/drama to the race?

Just a bit lost really...

[Ahonen]

RT/10Dave said:

I am more than a little confused about the soft tyres idea in F1...
(You know... the ones James Allen takes it upon himself to explain have a white stripe around them several times, during every race)

It appears pretty clear to me that these tyres are pretty crap, they wear too quickly and most of the teams appear to be struggling with them in general and hence don't particularly seem to like using them...

So, Why? (Why produce them? Why make everyone use them? Why Bother?)

Am I missing something? Are they good on certain tracks? or is it just something to try and add a little more confusion/drama to the race?

Just a bit lost really...

The tyre compounds are rarely the same from track to track. Bridgestone bring two options with them to each circuit, one softer than the other, and let the teams decide for themselves which ones work best. On some circuits the soft option will work best, on others it'll be the hard. It depends on circuit type, fuel strategy, track temperature etc, etc.

You may also find that the so-called 'soft' tyre at one circuit may be exactly the same compound and construction as the 'hard' tyre used somewhere else.

The marking of the tyres has added another circus-esque element to it. Part of the fun of strategies is not letting your rivals know what you're up to so that you can catch them out, but this white stripe system has ruined that, too.

[RT/10Dave]

Ah, Ok, I had been assuming that the compounds were always the same... I guess that explains the system a little more if they are never the same... although it does start my mind off wondering why a tyre manufacturer wouldn't be using the same compounds for each tyre type... I guess it does add a little of a lottery to the whole tyre equation which probably makes things a little more interesting when it comes to setting the cars up for each race...
Presumably the teams are not given their tyres until the race weekend then?
But, if the compounds are never the same, then how do we know that the soft tyres McLaren are using are the same as Ferrari's from race to race?

[Ahonen]

RT/10Dave said:

But, if the compounds are never the same, then how do we know that the soft tyres McLaren are using are the same as Ferrari's from race to race?

Sorry, I probably wasn't clear enough. All the tyres on all the cars will be the same at any given race, so if McLaren and Ferrari are using striped tyres at Spa they will be the same compound, but the compounds vary from track to track.

Some circuits are more abrasive than others and some races always feature much hotter temperatures than others. Bridgestone will therefore calculate what kind of wear to expect and bring tyres that will be suitable for the circuit. A freezing cold Silverstone, for example, will wear the tyres at a completely different rate to a roasting hot Interlagos.

[RT/10Dave]

Thanks for the clarification...

[sosidge]

Forced use of two compounds of tyre is just another excerpt from the following publication, available at your local bookstore...

"The FIA Dictionary of how to stop F1 being about racing and make it into a trivial spectacle for TV audiences in emerging markets"

This book also includes excellent explanations of the use of the Safety Car, three session qualifying, and the decision-making criteria of the race stewards.

[AlexS]

Ahonen said:

RT/10Dave said:

I am more than a little confused about the soft tyres idea in F1...
(You know... the ones James Allen takes it upon himself to explain have a white stripe around them several times, during every race)

It appears pretty clear to me that these tyres are pretty crap, they wear too quickly and most of the teams appear to be struggling with them in general and hence don't particularly seem to like using them...

So, Why? (Why produce them? Why make everyone use them? Why Bother?)

Am I missing something? Are they good on certain tracks? or is it just something to try and add a little more confusion/drama to the race?

Just a bit lost really...

The tyre compounds are rarely the same from track to track. Bridgestone bring two options with them to each circuit, one softer than the other, and let the teams decide for themselves which ones work best. On some circuits the soft option will work best, on others it'll be the hard. It depends on circuit type, fuel strategy, track temperature etc, etc.

You may also find that the so-called 'soft' tyre at one circuit may be exactly the same compound and construction as the 'hard' tyre used somewhere else.

The marking of the tyres has added another circus-esque element to it. Part of the fun of strategies is not letting your rivals know what you're up to so that you can catch them out, but this white stripe system has ruined that, too.

I thought that this year there were only 4 compounds used for the whole season and the two compounds used at any given track are selected from these 4.

[Ahonen]

AlexS said:

I thought that this year there were only 4 compounds used for the whole season and the two compounds used at any given track are selected from these 4.

You're probably right. I knew that there were a few different compounds, but didn't know how many were used. Four compounds gives quite a few potential combinations.

[uktrailmonster]

AlexS said:

I thought that this year there were only 4 compounds used for the whole season and the two compounds used at any given track are selected from these 4.

That's correct. Supersoft, Soft, Medium & Hard. Construction is identical for all 4.
Bridgestone select the 2 most suitable compounds for each track. Sometimes the harder of the 2 choices will be better, sometimes the softer.

[uktrailmonster]

Ahonen said:

Four compounds gives quite a few potential combinations.

In reality the combinations are:-

Supersoft + Soft

Soft + Medium

Medium + Hard

Simple as that.

[skinny]

interesting tho - the softer tyres always recieve complaints about graining and they don't even offer much grip before they grain. think a lot of drivers would rather be on michelins

[uktrailmonster]

skinny said:

interesting tho - the softer tyres always recieve complaints about graining and they don't even offer much grip before they grain. think a lot of drivers would rather be on michelins

Depends on the track. Soft compounds often grain anyway, it's one of the tradeoffs. Michelin probably did have the edge in their last season, especially on the softer compounds. But Bridgestone are using older technology tyres this year to save money. Plus only 4 compounds and 1 construction. So they're generally not optimal compared to previous years.

[AlexS]

And unlike the previous years the tyres aren't tailored to the individual teams either.

[thunderbelmont]

Anyone remember the days of Goodyear A's B's C's D's and qualifiers! (or were D's qualifiers - it's so long ago!)

I recall some circuits where drivers would put C's on one side and D's on the other.

That was in the days when they raced with full tanks, no refuelling, and only changed boots if they had to.

[n3il123]

thunderbelmont said:

Anyone remember the days of Goodyear A's B's C's D's and qualifiers! (or were D's qualifiers - it's so long ago!)

I recall some circuits where drivers would put C's on one side and D's on the other.

That was in the days when they raced with full tanks, no refuelling, and only changed boots if they had to.

And the qualifiers had to be treated really gently on the out lap otherwise they would go off before the end of the qualifying lap because they were so soft!

Those were the days!