Tyre development for V8 engines

This year's 2.4-litre V8 engines produce around 200bhp less than the 3-litre V10s that were phased out at the end of 2005. They have required a new technical philosophy from the engine manufacturers, and the power loss (950bhp down to 750bhp) has had an impact on Bridgestone in terms of tyre wear.

"People automatically think that less power makes it easier on the tyres," says Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone's Technical Manager. "But that's not strictly the case. There is always wear it just depends on the level.”

The return of tyre changes has meant that compounds are softer than they were last year, when one set of tyres had to last a whole race. But the main reason for the high wear rates this year is due to increased cornering forces. The slow and medium speed corners are negotiated at similar speeds to last year, but there has been a huge increase in speed through fast corners.

"At the final corner at Barcelona," says Williams star Mark Webber, "we're going 9mph faster than we were last year.

"We're easy-flat through there with the V8s, so the speed is partly due to increased grip from the tyres and partly due to the cars being better than last year because the aerodynamic rules remained the same over the winter."

Such an increase in lateral load has a big impact on wear rates over the course of a 20-lap race stint. "A tyre from last year would have the same wear rate this year because of these cornering speeds," says Suganuma. "This makes up for the lack of power."

At some of the slower tracks, where the tyres are not exposed to long, fast cornering, some teams - notably Toyota in Bahrain - have struggled to get heat into their rear tyres.

But Bridgestone have successfully worked with its five teams to overcome this problem and the evidence was plain to see in Australia, where Ralf Schumacher finished third for Toyota.

As for horsepower, the engine manufacturers claim that they will find V10 levels of power from the V8s within six years. More wheelspin and high cornering forces? Now that would be a real strain on the tyres.