Bridgestone develops unique tyres for Monaco

The technical requirements of Monaco are unlike any other track in the world - even Melbourne, which is run on public roads at Albert Park.

The Principality’s asphalt is such that it requires a one-off tyre, in the same way that its slow-speed corners – average lap speed 98mph – require high downforce aerodynamic packages from the teams.

“You have to use a very soft tyre compound at Monaco,” says Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone. “The track is very smooth and it is not a permanent circuit, so it’s very difficult to simulate the conditions because they change from one year to the next.”

Much of Bridgestone’s factory-based development for the race is done using data from previous years. Their on-track preparation is carried out at Paul Ricard, which, in terms of asphalt smoothness, is more similar to Monaco than any other track in Europe.

“We have to use very soft compounds at Monaco,” continues Suganuma. “The result is that the fronts wear very quickly at other tracks – even Paul Ricard – because the speeds are much higher.

"It’s quite difficult to get meaningful results during testing, which is why we also use data from previous years as well.”

Tyre testing for other races is easier than for Monaco because permanent circuits have, quite literally, more common ground.

The asphalt doesn’t vary much from track-to-track and, where it’s not possible to test at a circuit before a race, Bridgestone can use another track with similar asphalt characteristics to carry out their preparations.

For this week-ends' San Marino Grand Prix (23/04/2006), Toyota, Williams and Ferrari tested at Vallelunga, near Rome.

The asphalt is of a similar quality at both racetracks, which allows Bridgestone to evaluate accurately its race tyres, even though the lap time is much shorter at Vallelunga and the average lap speed much slower.

“With the tyre war, the tyres are constantly evolving,” says Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn. “Tyres are a very important aspect to our testing and, when we’re thinking where to test, we take Bridgestone’s advice into account.”

Formula 1’s sporting rules limit the number of GP venues that can be used for testing. All test tracks must be FIA-approved, but only Barcelona, Silverstone and Monza can be used during the season.

Pre-season tests also took place at Bahrain and Imola this year, but the teams have not returned since the World Championship kicked off on 12 March.