@ Marcus
I believe you, and can relate to many things you say.
I have worked on both side of the fence team/supplier and know first hand
that there is very limited feedback from teams at times.
Tires are maybe a bit different, but for components like dampers/clutches/gearboxes etc. it´s quite common for teams not to go back to the manufacturer and to tell them what they have found with his product.
This is especially true if the supplier supplies other teams as well, or in worse case it`s the only supplier. The fear is that the supplier will pass your findings along to other teams as well, or improve his product - in any case you may lose your (temporary) advantage.
I can find good reasons for both sides of the argument, but at least for me, I think that ultimately it pays of for both parties if you have a good, trustworthy and open relationship.
Funny thing is, that I have seen teams which where the worse (in terms of on-track performance) being the most secretive and paranoid.
At the time, even if this team would have printed their set-up sheet on T-Shirts and sold at the track, nobody would have spend much attention, as they where so far off the pace.
Nevertheless, they made me sign a 10 page confidential agreement, before I could set foot in their workshop.
On the other hand, good teams tend to be very open minded, and open to suggestions and recomendations. At least in my expirience.
@ Dave
Sorry, I did not mean to question your story. I can understand it and it makes sense,the same goes for J.T. comments.
My comment was made in the context that (in my limited expirience), tire companies seem to be more worried about low pressures than high pressures.
I never came across a tire engineer who opposed a higher pressure (within sensible limits), but many who are very worried about running (too) low cold pressures.
And I understand there point and see where they are comming from, and I agree with them (most of the time
).
At least in the Touring Car world, high camber settings and low tire pressures are
still a quick & dirty trick to help laptime (most of the time) - at least in the short run.
Pushed to much, this often leads to tire failures later on in the race, but most of the damage was maybe allready done in qualifying.
In this context, I thought that, if teams would fiddle around with their pressure gauges, (often)they would make them read higher pressures to keep the peace and their tire tech happy. I think most race engineers in touring car racing where at one time or the other on the low side of the recommendations - including myself.
It was a cheeky comment - not meant to discredit your story, or what you wanted to say.
Sorry if it has come across any other way - it was not intended that way.
The Salzburgring in Austria is a good example, where tire companies would be very strict with max. camber and min. pressure settings (FL tire), and go to great length to enforce them (STW/GTCC & DTC). Maybe Marcus has some expirience on this track as well.
@ Johnson
in addition to A. Davidson´s statement
here is another take on the situation from Nico Rosberg, highlighting that the problem is complex and track specific.
from autosport.com
>>>>
Rosberg also believes that it is too early for his team to be sure it has overcome the tyre problems that have hampered its efforts at some races this year.
"There is definitely still work to do. It is a very difficult subject which you struggle to understand as a team, and other teams have it too. Nobody really understands what the reasons are.
"We are doing a lot of things to try and improve it, without knowing for sure that is the cure. It doesn't happen at all the tracks, a few tracks it happens.
"It hit us very bad in Montreal and a little bit less so in other places. At Silverstone the problem wasn't really there. I just hope we don't go to another track where it is another issue because it could be a problem again." <<<<
