planetf1.com

The track surface had more of an influence than the tyres.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

It was never a lottery system. The current tire situation is one where a much higher level of strategy and complication has been forced on all the teams and drivers. At the beginning of the season all the teams were faced with technical issues, and they learned and developed new equipment and procedures. The method of regulating brake temperature to control tire temperatures is one good example. McLaren tried adjustable brakes ducts first on their rear brakes, and once it proved effective, applied the same solution to the front brakes. All the other teams followed suit and built their own solutions, where at Austin they were able to control tire temperatures with greater control and accuracy.

Everyone saw the countless remarks by drivers and teams that they had great difficulty in getting a set of tires working at the beginning of the season. At Austin that was no longer an issue or a talking point. Not because of some lottery, but because solutions were developed.

For some fans it appeared confusing and random. But if you peel back the layer of simple superficiality, what was really happening was that as the weeks went by, teams developed solutions to problems. That dire shortage of testing time didn't allow teams to solve their problems before the season began, and we saw the problem-solving process in front of us, instead of hidden away in testing sessions far from the public gaze. The entire season was a war of development, the cars were changed and altered every race, to solve the problems.

When things don't go as planned, it's not because someone threw dice and decided on random results, it was a matter of a problem that had to be solved. When Vettel's alternator failed, the team didn't throw their hands in the air and say "oh my, we've had such bad luck", but instead studied the problem and applied a solution. In the picture below there is a long duct snaking from on top of the radiator to below the exhaust pipes. That duct showed up soon after the alternator failure to duct cool air to the famous alternator.


Formula One isn't supposed to be easy, it is supposed to be very difficult and complicated. It is an incredibly complex puzzle that requires making thousands of decisions and compromises to maximize results. Do we build a car with lots of power and top end , or one with lesser power, less top end, but superior in the corners?

And it was exactly the same with the tires, not everyone got it right or made the correct decisions at the beginning of the season. So we saw massive successes, and massive fails as everyone learned from their mistakes.

But it was never a lottery.

It's not that simple, some teams had major problems heating the tyres. Even if it's not about degradation it is still a tyre issue. Alonso was something like 1,5s-2s a lap slower compared to Hamilton and Vettel between lap 1 and 3-4.

And drivers being able to push all the way is not a guarantee for an exciting race either.

Thanks but that's not what it's saying, it's saying the Medium has a lower working range than the Softs, i.e. the Medium is designed to work better in cooler conditions than the Soft. That's the opposite of what we've been seeing for so many years, where softer tires were always better in cooler conditions because they warmed up better, but could not stand a higher working temperature without degrading or blistering.

I'm not picking a fight or quibbling over insignificant details flyer, but in the article..

I wonder whether they are referring to last year's medium tire, or comparing it to the soft. Details like that keep me up at night, trying to sort things out. But my confusion pales in comparison to what the teams will be dealing with when the action starts in Australia.

I don't think the teams will have much confusion in Oz .

I suspect after last year, this year we will see all sorts of infra red and thermal cameras on the cars in testing.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Ah, I see it makes sense from that point of view. Thanks, I was about to ask Coughlan for some data.