Bridgestone Motorsport Jerez Test Summary
February 24, 2010 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Bridgestone Motorsport concluded two pre-season tests at the Circuito de Jerez last Saturday, where extensive use was made of Bridgestone’s wet and intermediate tyres for the majority of eight days’ testing at the track in southern Spain, on February 10-13 and 17-20.
The final two days provided extensive dry running, but prior to that uncharacteristic and persistent rain in Spain made matters difficult for teams trying to develop their new cars for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, for which Bridgestone is the Official Tyre Supplier.
Three compounds of 2010 specification dry tyres were available, with all but the super soft on offer, but it was the wet and intermediate tyres which were used for the majority of the time. Such was the demand for these tyres that Bridgestone sent extra sets of both for all teams from its UK base. Bridgestone’s Potenza Formula One tyres will next be used in test action this week at Barcelona on February 25-28 where all four dry compounds as well as the wet and intermediate will be available.
Q&A with Jun Matsuzaki – Assistant Technical Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport:
How much of a factor has the weather been in Jerez?
“I think this is the most rain ever seen at Jerez, and on Thursday night it was almost impossible to leave the circuit as there was so much water on the roads. Fortunately, there was no more rain left in the sky so we had good dry running on Friday and Saturday which was very valuable.”
What are the difficulties with testing in wet conditions?
“The difficulty with wet conditions is that they are never constant so there are too many variables to gain good data and develop cars. If it is raining, the circuit is getting wetter so lap times become slower because of this. If it is a drying track, there will be improving lap times due to the improved track surface, a change to the car, or use of a different tyre. This makes it very difficult for everyone. Also, logistically, we had to bring out extra wet and intermediate tyres to enable the teams to continue
running in these difficult conditions.”
“The difficult factor has been that these tyres have been used before the teams have been able to get good dry set-ups on their cars. This is important to have as it makes finding a wet set-up far easier. This has meant we’ve seen a variety of wear characteristics, particularly on the intermediate tyre which is used on a drier track than the wet. When the intermediate is used on a track which has dry patches, or on a car where the set-up is not so balanced, you do see more wear with this tyre. The additional weight of the fuel loads in this season’s cars also adds to the difference in wear from that seen before. Equally, Jerez is a circuit which has quite high wear so we expect better performance as teams develop better set-ups of their cars and at less severe circuits than Jerez.”
What have you learnt about the dry tyres?
“Saturday was the only day where we started with a dry track and we had very little rain through the day, so we are still working with limited data. We can say that warm-up has been good for all three dry compounds here, with a definite improvement from last season’s tyres. It is too early to understand the differences between the compounds. Jerez is particularly severe on the rear tyres and we are happy with their performance from what we have seen so far. Hopefully, we will have better weather in Barcelona.”
Bridgestone Motorsport announce tyre specifications
February 10, 2010 by Christine
Filed under Press Releases
Bridgestone, the Official Tyre Supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship, is pleased to announce the compound allocations of Potenza tyres for the first three rounds of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.
This season will be the second with slick tyres which made a return to Formula One last year after eleven years absence from the sport. Changes for 2010 include a narrower front tyre and new constructions front and rear. All four dry compounds are modified from those used last year.
Just as in 2009, non consecutive allocations of tyres will occur at many circuits. Despite the changes to the compounds themselves, the compound names remain the same, with the range consisting of hard, medium, soft and super soft. There are two distinct temperature working ranges of tyres. The hard and medium have a higher temperature working range than the soft and super soft.
In a change to the regulations, the number of sets of dry tyres available for each driver at a grand prix changes from seven of each compound to six of the harder ‘prime’ compound and five of the softer ‘option’ compound.
The wet and intermediate tyres have no significant changes apart from the width of the front intermediate tyre, which will now be the same as the new dry front tyre.
The means of distinguishing between the two compounds on event will be through means of green bands painted on the edges of the tyre sidewalls of the softer tyres at a race. The wet tyre also has a green line at the bottom of the central groove. These markings allow the compounds to be visually distinguishable by fans at the circuit and those watching on television. The green colour shows Bridgestone’s continued support of the FIA’s Make Cars Green campaign.
“Tyre strategy will be very important in 2010 as there is no longer refuelling which was previously a big factor in determining when pit stops would occur. We have changed all our dry compounds for this season, as the cars will be heavier and the stint lengths could be longer. We have also made changes to enable quicker warm-up times. We will bring harder tyres to Australia than we did last season, but the compound allocation positions for Bahrain and Malaysia are the same as they were in 2009. There will be a big challenge for teams this season on how they use their tyres as they have fewer sets of dry tyres available than before, particularly with the softer tyre at each race. We are happy to continue to show our support of the FIA’s Make Cars Green campaign with the green markings on our tyres and we look forward to what should be a very exciting start to the season in Bahrain.”
Tyre compounds for the 2010 season:
One Racing Licence Returned
November 18, 2009 by Mr. C
Filed under F1 Big Picture
Kimi Raikkonen returns to the pitlane after winning the Belgian Grand Prix this year. It will be his last win in F1 for now, as Kimi’s manager confirmed the former Ferrari driver won’t be returning to the cockpit in 2010. Also in the news today, Spa Francorchamps received the licence they need to host the Belgian GP next year.
Credit: Bridgestone Corporation
