Bridgestone encounter heat problems during Friday practices
Bridgestone’s soft tyre took Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber to the fastest time of the day at the new configuration Silverstone circuit for the first day of the British Grand Prix. Webber set a 1m 31.234secs lap under glorious blue skies in front of a bumper crowd. His team- mate Sebastian Vettel was the fastest in the morning, using the hard compound Bridgestone.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What was significant about today’s running? “Today we experienced Silverstone’s new layout for the first time in Formula One. The track layout is certainly interesting and it was good to see the drivers adapt to this new challenge. The track surface was slippery which was illustrated many times as drivers battled a lack of grip. The surface improved quite a lot through the sessions, and I think there is still room for further surface improvement tomorrow. Temperatures were higher than we’ve seen here for the past few seasons and this had an impact on tyre performance. Drivers will have to be careful not to overheat their tyres, and those who do not will be rewarded with better performance.”
How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend? “A lot depends on the weather. The track layout and surface here puts a lot of heat into the tyres and the ambient and track temperatures add to this. When the tyres get very hot the rubber of the softer one moves around more. This means that the greater heat durability of the hard tyre becomes more desirable, even if it doesn’t offer the same amount of initial grip as the soft. Because of these factors, the choice for qualifying and the race could be challenging and interesting this weekend.”
Source: Bridgestone Motorsport
