Red tyres??

[sonic_roadhog]

Hey all, a wee bit quiet in here now isn't it? I can hear my keyboard echo off the walls! So I thought I'd try and get some new stuff in here.

What do you guys think to this bridgestone red tyre idea?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/55910

I know Champ cars do something similar and just wondered what you all thought about it. Generally I have to say I'm against artificial means of improving the racing but in a one make formula such as F1 now is it could present some interesting new twist. Any thoughts?

Sonic :)

[Pedalpusher]

If drivers are going to have to use soft and hard compound tyres over the course of practice, qually and race, then I think it's a good idea. At least you would know who was running on what type of tyre.

[Labonte Massa]

I don't like this idea. I don't think it adds excitement, it just adds strategy, and for me, excitement is on-track battles that require driver skill, not a decision on pit road. And yes, if one tire is better than the other, that will cause drivers on faster tires to be able to overtake drivers on slower tires, but, it won't make for good overtaking, because the driver on faster tires should be able to make a quick pass. And again, I mentioned driver skill, and faster tires do not mean driver skill.

Also, the rule seems pointless. There are only 2-3 pit stops per race to work with, which means the teams will all run the tires at the same time, which cancels the purpose of option tires. The only teams that will run off-cycle with the tires are teams that will be further behind and won't receive a big benefit from going off-cycle.

[sonic_roadhog]

I don't like this idea. I don't think it adds excitement, it just adds strategy, and for me, excitement is on-track battles that require driver skill, not a decision on pit road. And yes, if one tire is better than the other, that will cause drivers on faster tires to be able to overtake drivers on slower tires, but, it won't make for good overtaking, because the driver on faster tires should be able to make a quick pass. And again, I mentioned driver skill, and faster tires do not mean driver skill.

Also, the rule seems pointless. There are only 2-3 pit stops per race to work with, which means the teams will all run the tires at the same time, which cancels the purpose of option tires. The only teams that will run off-cycle with the tires are teams that will be further behind and won't receive a big benefit from going off-cycle.


Have to say I hadn't thought along those lines. I don;t get to watch much champ car nowerdays, anyone know if the same thing happens there - everyone on the red tyre at the same point?

Sonic :)

[Labonte Massa]

Have to say I hadn't thought along those lines. I don;t get to watch much champ car nowerdays, anyone know if the same thing happens there - everyone on the red tyre at the same point?

Sonic :)
I didn't watch too much Champ Car this year, but as I recall there were a lot more pit stops there which made the strategies different.

However, I think the Power to Pass in Champ creates more excitement than the option tires do.

[sonic_roadhog]

only works with a one make engine formula tho.

[Mark in Oshawa]

The Red tire thing in Champ Car works in that you can see the different mind sets of the drivers of when they use their Red's, and you can also know as a fan which team is going to a softer compound without having some talking head tell you. It may not come in as a factor in f1, but hey, more knowledge is power...

[Rollo]

This is hardly a new idea.

Back in the 80s Goodyear supplied A, B, C, D and Q compound tyres. When fuel refills were not allowed, it then became a matter of tyre choice.

Sometimes cars would go through an entire race on a set of As but as their tyres started to go off, other cars with softer compounds would come back at them.

Red tyres? Fancy gimmick for an old idea if you ask me.

[ArrowsFA1]

If nothing else it would be one visible explanation of pace. TV commentators are pretty good at keeping an eye on laptimes and speculating on why a driver is gaining or losing time, but the 'reds' would allow us spectators to see that for ourselves.

Also, if we see a driver pitting and fitting 'reds', while his rival is still on 'blacks' it could lead to a bit of excitement for a while :p

[Ranger]

Champcar Innovations could be coming to F1 like wildfire in a few years.

The 2007 CCWS Panoz DP01 will have a start button in the event that a car stalls on track.

You can bet that that invention will become part of Formula One within the next 5 years.

And the tyres, of course, is another good idea - and the slicks...

[Azumanga Davo]

Hey, if it produces a show worthy of good passing, then I say Im all for it. As long as it produces the tough millimetre-to-millimetre racing of olden days, then Im happy no matter how its done.

[Ranger]

I think it will.

Differences in tyre performances produced most of this year's passing and this will be a good substitute to the one tyre rule which has an equal playing field for all.

[Sleeper]

I'm all for it if its done Champ Car style. That means that the first time a driver gets to use the reds is in qualy, so it should show up the abilities of good drivers to either set up a car that works well on both compounds or drive around a car that only works well on one compound. Could make for some very exciting races.

[schmenke]

Champcar Innovations could be coming to F1 like wildfire in a few years.

The 2007 CCWS Panoz DP01 will have a start button in the event that a car stalls on track. ...

I thought that F1 regulations currently permitted on-board starters?

[Tomski]

Not in favour at all. Isn't F1 meant to be the piunacle of motorsport?

Surely that means it should be racing in its purest form and non of this contrived "lets me it inerestin" Cr*p.

The rules & regs should just be there to cover the safety aspects of the sport and the technical regs should be as free as possible, and let the teams get on with it!

[Sleeper]

I thought that F1 regulations currently permitted on-board starters?

They might do, but no team is going to waste the weight on a starter motor. The drivers not supposed to stall! :p :

[Bolton Midnight]

Why red? Why not white walled?

I think the average F1 fan is bright enough to know what tyre a car is on by watching lap times.

[Rusty Spanner]

I thought that F1 regulations currently permitted on-board starters?

They do but we don't see very many stalled cars anyway. The anti-stall systems work well enough that usaually cars that are stall already have more significant damage.

[Sleeper]

Why red? Why not white walled?

I think the average F1 fan is bright enough to know what tyre a car is on by watching lap times.

That's true but it would mean we actually have to have the lap times with the TV coverage, not something we get much of.

[Bolton Midnight]

The graphics on ITV usually show who's currently flying and if they don't Martin Brundle usually tells us so.

[wmcot]

Why not go one step further and take away the rule that locks a team into one compund of tire? That way, as a race weekend changes, the teams could have a larger variety of compounds to choose to fit conditions. F1 was run this way back in the 70's. The "one compound" rule is just as artificial as the "red tire" rule would be. Let's let the teams decide what tires to run, not the FIA!

[BobbyC]

They might do, but no team is going to waste the weight on a starter motor. The drivers not supposed to stall! :p :

A minimum weight rule, however, could make having a starter moder being there for "ballast" make sense.

[agwiii]

Why red? Why not white walled?

LOL

[fly_ac]

Could be interesting, this color coded tyres.

:p

[call_me_andrew]

The rules & regs should just be there to cover the safety aspects of the sport and the technical regs should be as free as possible, and let the teams get on with it!

If I ever need help organizing a parade, I'll be sure to ask you.

It's great to see different technologies competing against each other, but if the competition isn't close, why would I want to watch?

I didn't like the red tires when Champ Car started using them, but they've grown on me. It adds some interesting strategy to the race. I've noticed that some drivers can drive faster on blacks than on reds. I'm sure Bridgestone would be glad to save some money by not having to ship as many different compounds to every track.

[Tomski]

It adds some interesting strategy to the race.

Why do we need strategy?

Surley the racing should be enough, if its done right?

I don't want to watch races which depend on the speed of the pit crew to determine the winner.

If its strategy you want watch chess..............

[ArrowsFA1]

If its strategy you want watch chess..............
Funny...I remember Max M comparing F1 to just that some time ago :dozey: He also suggested something along the lines of you don't need goals in a game of football to make it exciting, just as you don't need overtaking in F1 :down:

[K-Pu]

Well, it´s nothing more than seeing them with other colour scheme, because as Call me Andrew said, pilots in blacks could be faster that the ones in red.

And Bridgestone would try to sabe money bringing less tyres to each GP... I don´t see F1 cars with red tyres, but maybe some marketing wizard would think about tyres as another place to put sponsors.

[555-04Q2]

Funny...I remember Max M comparing F1 to just that some time ago :dozey: He also suggested something along the lines of you don't need goals in a game of football to make it exciting, just as you don't need overtaking in F1 :down:

The mans a complete idiot :(

[call_me_andrew]

Why do we need strategy?

Surley the racing should be enough, if its done right?

That's a huge "if".

[Ranger]

It's no IF at all.

If it weren't for strategy, 2006 would've been a Renault-wash with about 11 or so victories.

Same thing for many of the other F1 seasons in the past.