Pirelli will take Bridgestone's place after 2010

[Edis]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82623?

Apparently Michelin have proposed to change wheels from 13 to 18 inches of diameter. I have mixed feeling about this as Gascoyne does. I think it would probably make more sense to go to wider rear tyres in order to increase mechanical grip. Running a lower profile tyre as Michelin proposes could open F1 to more variation of suspension systems as engineers would have to compensate for the suspension effect of the high side walls.

Going to 18" rims mean that Michelin could base their F1 tires on their sportscar racing tires, which use 18" rims. There are also a number of tire manufacturer that have sportscar 18" tires, which mean there could be several tire suppliers. Sportscar racing would also benefit from the development made in F1 and the other way around. So for tire suppliers, it will probably reduce the costs.

[Professor]

I always wondered why they went with such small wheel diameters and large aspect ratios. It is atypical of racing in general. Here is a blog about the new tire specs that is several months old.

http://www.formula1journal.com/2009/11/ ... lood1.html

[WhiteBlue]

Synergy would be cost saving and open up more options in suspension design. Plus the option of steel brakes would be feasible.

[Samo]

Synergy would be cost saving and open up more options in suspension design. Plus the option of steel brakes would be feasible.

So the problem now is that you couldn't mount large enough steel breaks?

[ESPImperium]

Im listening to whats been said, and what i think is gonna happen is this:

* Tyre war is back on
* Michelen will come back into the sport
* Bridgestone will announce they will be supplying no more than 4 or 5 teams.
* Michelen will supply the rest
* We will get new tyre rules for 2011 that includes new tyre sizes and compound rules.

We have to wait and see what the FIA, FOM and FOTA decide on for tyres.

[Jersey Tom]

Synergy would be cost saving and open up more options in suspension design. Plus the option of steel brakes would be feasible.

There would be no cost savings.

[Pandamasque]

Global tire seem like a good idea unlike the global engine.

[seinfeld]

bernie will make the Tyre company pay to be in F1 I am not actually joking

he will actually do that, Bernie thinks his a gift from God and all should pay. if anything Bernie should pay them, im sure the tires wont cost a cent but they will have to pay for entry, this is utterly rediculus

everyone who goes into F1 always looses money

[WhiteBlue]

Synergy would be cost saving and open up more options in suspension design. Plus the option of steel brakes would be feasible.

There would be no cost savings.

This is a strange statement. To supply an outdated type of competition tyre which has to be developed completely separate from the sports car business that Michelin runs today would surely cost more money than having two very similar 18 inch wheel tyres for sports cars and F1 with basically the same design principles. Please explain where Michelin is wrong in their synergy expectations!

[Jersey Tom]

Synergy would be cost saving and open up more options in suspension design. Plus the option of steel brakes would be feasible.

There would be no cost savings.

This is a strange statement. To supply an outdated type of competition tyre which has to be developed completely separate from the sports car business that Michelin runs today would surely cost more money than having two very similar 18 inch wheel tyres for sports cars and F1 with basically the same design principles. Please explain where Michelin is wrong in their synergy expectations!

What's outdated about a 13" bead diameter race tire? Or tire in general? 13" or 15" tire.. 17" or 18".. fundamentally no different in concept. Couple beads, couple plies, couple belts. Same ---. In fact, I'd bet globally there are more 13" tires in service than 18".

Michelin at least already have a baseline for 13" F1 tires. I just don't see what "synergies" they expect if they go to 18". So what if they build 18" sportscar race tires? You're tailoring F1 constructions and compounds to a completely different platform. Different tracks, speeds, loads, you name it. Still going to require new molds, lots of building, testing, etc. There's certainly no less development work to build a 18" F1 tire compared to a 13". If anything, there's more.

[WhiteBlue]

Jersey Tom, I believe that you are not familiar with the cost structures in industrial development and manufacturing. There are overwhelming cost aspects which are rooted in complexity. If I can reduce product lines significantly by eliminating a main design parameter like the wheel diameter the cost implication are tremendous. Reduced complexity increases efficiency and profits along the complete logistic chain from purchasing, comissioning, documentation, development, manufacturing space, economy of scale in manufacturing, ware housing and human capital.

In this case Michelin are probably talking about saving 80% of the human resources they would continually spend on a new F1 project by accepting the unusual 13 inch wheel rims. Comparable competition tyres use low profile aspects with wider rims for good reasons and even more important high performance road vehicles use low profile tyres almost exclusively. It means that a huge amount of knowledge and finished solutions is applicable right away. In the case of launching the project with 13 inch wheels Michelin would dedicate precious resources not only for starting the project but also for keeping it running and without the option to transfer anything road relevant to their core business.

[mx_tifoso]

In Michelin's case they wouldn't have to start from scratch as they already have everything from their previous F1 endeavor, it would just be a matter of updating their designs to meet the current regulations. Unless they completely got rid of that equipment.

And it's not just Michelin that has 13' wheel designs in their pocket, IIRC most high performance tire makers compete in series which use these sizes.

And just because every other motorsport series and road cars use large diameter wheels doesn't mean that F1 should also do so, it shouldn't have to latch on to the bandwagon to fit in with the crowd. I think that small diameter wheels distinguish the series, just like the high revving engines and complex aero; it's part of the indentity/niche.

Road cars use large diamater wheels because that's the trend, especially when it comes to OEM 19' and 20' sizes. There's no benefit to using humongous wheels and tires, besides aesthetics in some cases.

[Federico]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82623?

Apparently Michelin have proposed to change wheels from 13 to 18 inches of diameter.

I think 18 inches rims are ugly as hell in current f1 cars. Anyway all the other closed wheel racing series use bigger rims so maybe is the way to go

[lotus7]

I always wondered why they went with such small wheel diameters

http://www.formula1journal.com/2009/11/ ... lood1.html

Read a good few years ago that small wheel diameters (13") was kept to limit massive brakes.

[Federico]

I always wondered why they went with such small wheel diameters

http://www.formula1journal.com/2009/11/ ... lood1.html

Read a good few years ago that small wheel diameters (13") was kept to limit massive brakes.

I don't get it... It isn't enough to limit the brake disc diameter?