F1 - single tyre supplier or tyre war?

[mycool]

With 3 companies now having expressed interest in supplying F1 tyres what do people think in terms of a single supplier vs. 2 or 3 suppliers and teams free to choose who they want to go with?

[Martin Keene]

Single supplier. A tyre war can take wholes seconds off lap times without trying, leading to daft rule changes to try and contain the speed.

Plus the continual testing that comes with a tyre war is damn expensive.

[zac510]

Martin makes a good point, with the shoot-yourself-in-foot no testing rules they've come up with a tyre war could make catching up mid season even more difficult.

Then again the single supplier came in when F1 was healthy and rich. It's a little bit less so now. It'd be good to get more investment and interest from a few tyre suppliers.

[PhillipM]

Tyre war, gives some variables to make the game more interesting which is what no-refueling, KERS and all this ste that's come after is designed to replace.
And there's no point in being a supplier to F1 if there's no competition to work against, you don't get any mention in the broadcasting because no-one is talking about it.
I said that exact thing when they announced a single supplier, and it's took Bridgestone this long to realise it.

[llewop]

PhillipM said:

And there's no point in being a supplier to F1 if there's no competition to work against, you don't get any mention in the broadcasting because no-one is talking about it.
I said that exact thing when they announced a single supplier, and it's took Bridgestone this long to realise it.

The competition thing is partially why Michelin were not interested in being the single supplier as I recall, so it is curious that they may be interested in coming back, although with the balance more favourable: look to be getting paid to supply the tyres: not as before, paying F1 for the honour of supplying the tyres, which always seemed daft to me!

Generally the only mention tyres get in F1 under a single supplier is when they are rubbish - how many reports from drivers do we hear of 'the tyres have gone off.....'? hardly sells Bridgestone's product does it?

Personally I'm tempted by a tyre war, the name of the game is competition after all..... Perhaps to prevent cars suddenly being competetive/uncompetetive purely because of tyre choice: they should be able to switch which brand they use each weekend if they want? After all; if any of us had a cy set of tyres we'd switich to something different asap. I know, I know - someone say that suspensions etc are set up to match the tyres: but surely that is just another variable (or variables?) that they should be able to deal with in practice for the weekend? And if it means more cars are less than optimal, more chance of overtaking. As long as one brand wasn't the best everywhere (or optimised to suit a particular car..... ) then it would make it interesting.

[greygoose]

The more suppliers the better I would think and the tyres should last the length of the race, the racing may get more interesting if there are different levels of grip for the cars.

[Jasandjules]

I prefer the idea of different manufacturers supplying tyres. It will mix things up a bit.

[Captain Flashman]

they should stick with a single tyre control tyre but let tyre companies pay to put their names on it, like bat sponsors on cricket bats. ie all tyres are made by avon and F1 pays them for it, then companies like goodyear, dunlop, bridgestone ect, pay to put their name on the product

[Mazda Baiter]

Tyre war, every time

[Castrol Craig]

tyre war.

[Rude-boy]

Tyre war, but with a difference in that I believe that there should be a maximum allowance for the ultimate grip provided by a slick tyre.

I do not know the physics but let's say something like an one tyre should not be permitted to be capable of sustaining a lateral force in excess of 3.5g at 150kph. That way the war will centre around making the tyres offer a more consistent level of grip and dealing with how that grip is 'given up' rather than the ultimate level of grip.

I would also be a little naughty and make the tyre manufactures provide 4 different compounds at the start of the year of which a team must nominate which 2 they want to use each meeting, 50 days before the date each race. During the course of the race they must use both compounds for not less than 25% of the race distance (wet weather permitting) each and must then reuse both sets of tyres within the next 3 races.

[simonrockman]

It's a competition right? Technical as well as physical. I don't think there should be any single suppliers. I like KERS but want to see innovation. I particularly want to see batteries vs mechanical KERS. I don't think there should be a single ECU either.

Of course we need competition in the tyres. Perhaps to the extent that teams get to choose suppliers per race.

An exception to all this is safety. A single supplier for HANS, which offers no competitive advantage, is A Good Thing.

Simon

[deevlash]

single tyre, tyres can have a huge effect on the performance of a car when done correctly allowing them to fk off into the distance. Especially when the manufacturer focuses on one team, like ferrari.

[cs02rm0]

War. Someone should give more thought than I have though to making sure it doesn't become the main factor for separating teams on the grid. Perhaps some flexibility to change supplier through the season.

[Muzzer]

deevlash said:

single tyre, tyres can have a huge effect on the performance of a car when done correctly allowing them to fk off into the distance. Especially when the manufacturer focuses on one team, like ferrari.

I don't think that'll be possible now with the testing restrictions in place.

Bridgestone can't have Badoer pounding round Fiorano all day every day like they used to

Saying that, it was Bridgestone's virtual sole focus on Ferrari that lead to Ferrari's awful season in 2005 IINM.

I vote tyre war. More variables = more action. Different tyres will suit different tracks (remember Damon Hill in the Arrows at the Hungaroring in 97?)

I think with today's cost-concious powers that be it'll be one manufacturer though.

Here's hoping they don't go with the mooted change to 18in rims

[Derek Smith]

I can't see how they can go with multipel tyres unless they demand identical compound and such.

The whole ethos of F1 is that every team field equal cars. Having different tyres would mean a return to the bad old days of there being invention and innovation, and we don't want that, do we.

[John D.]

Tyre war.

Mix it up a bit more hopefully.

[PhillipM]

Derek Smith said:

I can't see how they can go with multipel tyres unless they demand identical compound and such.

The whole ethos of F1 is that every team field equal cars. Having different tyres would mean a return to the bad old days of there being invention and innovation, and we don't want that, do we.

Don't be silly, then car will be making mad moves like overtaking and they're just too dangerous.

Edited by PhillipM on Friday 30th April 22:44

[mattikake]

Tyre war.

Always worked well in the past. Usually there ends up being a mix of high grip low life and low grip long life.

[skwdenyer]

simonrockman said:

Of course we need competition in the tyres. Perhaps to the extent that teams get to choose suppliers per race.

That might work more usefully if we move to the much larger wheels / lower-profile tyres which have been mooted. Right now, a huge proportion of the suspension's compliance is provided by the tyres, so understanding and precisely modelling those characteristics is absolutely critical to the teams' performance. Right now I simply do not believe that a current F1 car could swap tyre manufacturers (with all that entails) at a race meeting and compete safely, let alone competitively.