F1 tyre situation "fundamentally wrong" - Lauda

[Rob]

Tuesday 19 March at 06:35 : Mar.19 (GMM) Niki Lauda has slammed the tyre situation in formula one, accusing Pirelli and the FIA of confusing the fans.

"The situation with the tyres is absolutely stupid," the forthright triple world champion, broadcaster and Mercedes team chairman and shareholder said.

"Artificially creating more and more pitstops is wrong," Lauda told German newspaper Bild.

"Pirelli can't really help it as they are only doing what the FIA ordered them to do, but 90 per cent of the time no one understands what is happening in the races now."

Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel finished the 2013 season opener third on Sunday, while Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen did one fewer pitstop and surprisingly won for Lotus from seventh on the grid.

Lauda said the current situation, with the tyres more influential than ever before, is confusing for the fans.

"My advantage is that I can ask our (Mercedes) engineers. The fans cannot. But even our people are confused.

"When the tyres are so soft, it's bad for formula one. The fans don't understand if there are more than two pitstops. (For F1) it's a fundamentally wrong path."

Pirelli's Paul Hembery hit back: "Many fans have told us they think the racing is more exciting now."

http://www.onestopstrategy.com/daily...7+-+Lauda.html

[Jose-Lorca Fan]

Lauda wouldn't be saying his if their car wasn't so hungry on the tyres. Who was it during testing saying they had excellent tyre management?

[Hamish]

If the Merc didn't wear out the tyres, Lauda would be happy with them. Don't know how he can say it is bad for F1, I personally think it is rather exciting and makes for an unpredictable race.

[impactX]

If in-season testing is allowed, then it's not as ridiculous.

[FFFerrari]

Lauda is old and confused. And yes, I prefer this to the situation where you could go on with one pitstop (the mandatory one).

[Massimo]

Lauda has a point ofcourse, we've gotten to the point where tyre management has replaced the actual racing itself.
Let's have a look at Kimi, he was in fourth place after the first lap, but i don't remember him being within a second of the car in front of him, ever, in fact Kimi saved his tyres because he never had to fight with anyone on track, never during the whole race did he had to try and overtake another car, Kimi's strategy was based solely on avoiding the dirty air from any car in front of him.
Where Alonso, Massa, Vettel and Hamilton were within a second of each other several times and at least looked like they would try to overtake the car in front of them, and had to pay a price strategically wise, Kimi stayed far away from the other cars on track and fooled everybody with his hide and seek strategy.
When Sutil went to supersofts with an almost empty car, you would expect him to gain some places and see some overtakes, but none of that, the supersoft seems to be a qualifying tyre, with just 2 laps of maximum performance, after that they're even worse than 15 laps old mediums!
Sorry, but that's not racing.

[Infi24r]

I like the tyres. I think if it wasn't for the tyres the Red Bulls would be off into the distance.

[Hornet]

It's funny people used to say tire war was bad because the tire played too big of a role in determining who wins. Now, we have the same situation, and people are happy with it.

[SanderV]

They are trying to create artificial entertainment to attract outsiders. Some people - especially outsiders or non-followers - want to see unpredictability in F1. They tell me a race is boring if a team has a dominant car or something. I can understand some people when they say races are often boring, but to me, a 'boring' race is often very fascinating. For me, F1 is not about unpredictability, but about the team that does the best job, regardless of whether it is Red Bull, Ferrari or any other team. Of course I prefer Ferrari, but I'm talking about F1 in general.

It's similar to rule changes. They implement rule changes 'to spice up the racing'. To me - a F1 fanatic - this is unnecessary and 'spoils' the sport. But they are trying to attract a bigger audience. I can understand that, but to me it's a shame because I like pure racing and team effort in F1.

The tyre situation may play into the hands of some teams and hurt others. The teams - including Ferrari - have to deal with these circumstances. I guess commercial interests are more important today than sporting values. I'm fine with one tyre supplier, but I prefer a stable tyre, so the teams can make the difference through car development, drivers or strategies. To me, F1 doesn't need to be 'spiced up' through tyres, but what can you do? All in all, I kind of agree with Lauda, but as a team you have to deal with it.

[Rob]

It's funny people used to say tire war was bad because the tire played too big of a role in determining who wins. Now, we have the same situation, and people are happy with it.

Back in the "tyre war" years, both tyres worked differently. Bridgestones worked straight out of the warmers, as Michilins came into song after few laps. That gave unpredictable "sometimes" of car performance, but at least we saw drivers pushing lap after lap till pitstops. What we have know is tyre conservation. Isnt bad, as shows which car/drivers can look after the rubber better, but that to me is bit boring. As i like watching the top drivers pushing lap after lap, and sometimes pushing the limits.

[Hornet]

Back in the "tyre war" years, both tyres worked differently. Bridgestones worked straight out of the warmers, as Michilins came into song after few laps. That gave unpredictable "sometimes" of car performance, but at least we saw drivers pushing lap after lap till pitstops. What we have know is tyre conservation. Isnt bad, as shows which car/drivers can look after the rubber better, but that to me is bit botring. As i like watching the top drivers pushing lap after lap, and sometimes pushing the limits.

Yep. That's exactly what I dislike about the current tire condition, it doesn't allow the drivers to push and be aggressive when they are fighting on track. Heck we might have saw Massa and Alonso passing Vettel on track had they been able to trash the tires around driving aggressively.

[Kingdom Hearts]

but 90 per cent of the time no one understands what is happening in the races now

Not sure what the hell it's talking about, it's not that difficult to understand.

[NickEice]

I enjoy the racing. Maybe I am a simpleton, but hearing F1 engines and watching our beautiful red cars on track is enough to keep me happy!

[sagi58]

...Let's have a look at Kimi, he was in fourth place after the first lap, but i don't remember him being within a second of the car in front of him, ever, in fact Kimi saved his tyres because he never had to fight with anyone on track, never during the whole race did he had to try and overtake another car, Kimi's strategy was based solely on avoiding the dirty air from any car in front of him...

Sorry, but that's not racing.

Which is probably why Kimi himself said:

'It was one of the easiest races' - Raikkonen

http://en.espnf1.com/australia/motor...ry/103296.html

[Greig]

Kimi overtook Lewis

[sagi58]

If in-season testing is allowed, then it's not as ridiculous.

Absolutely!! If teams had more time to understand the impact tires have on their performance and were able to make adjustments accordingly, you'd be giving "complete" control over the car's performance back to the teams!! Well, that AND being able to choose whatever tire best suits their car instead of being force-fed at each race!!

[sagi58]

Kimi overtook Lewis

I think everyone overtook him! :angel

[Sianellen]

Kimi overtook Lewis

He overtook Sutil too

[mark p]

Tyres are the same as air. designs are made to use air the best so you can design cars to use tyres better than others. its just an element of design next year engines as well so a balance of all 3. F1 races a few years back was just arro and no overtakes where you started you normally finished. Development of the car for tyres is just as big as designing parts for air to flow over but makes better races.

[Massimo]

He overtook Sutil too

Kimi overtook Lewis

Kimi simply drives around Lewis, and the overtake on Sutil is the same as on any given backmarker.
I'm sure both of you understand how i meant my comment.

[Silent Bob]

Back in the "tyre war" years, both tyres worked differently. Bridgestones worked straight out of the warmers, as Michilins came into song after few laps. That gave unpredictable "sometimes" of car performance, but at least we saw drivers pushing lap after lap till pitstops. What we have know is tyre conservation. Isnt bad, as shows which car/drivers can look after the rubber better, but that to me is bit botring. As i like watching the top drivers pushing lap after lap, and sometimes pushing the limits.

Absolutely agree. Also with these new tires, there isn't any benefit to staying out for a few extra laps because you can't put in any fast laps. The guy that pits for new tires first has too much extra speed and performance for those first 2 laps out of the pits. Remember the days when the first guy pitted and the guy in second would try to put in some fast laps to leap frog the leader... doesn't happen anymore as we saw with Massa, the drop off from the tires is too large.

[Dino]

Kimi simply drives around Lewis, and the overtake on Sutil is the same as on any given backmarker.
I'm sure both of you understand how i meant my comment.

I tend to agree with Massimo.
Kimi only had to deal with Lewis and Sutil and did not spend a lot of time runnung in their dirty air.
During the first part of the race i had the impression that Kimi was holding a little back and not get involved in the Vettel Massa Alonso train.[Around 3 seconds back]
The Lotus Team and Kimi knew exactly what they where doing.
Just let the leaders fight it out [and ruining their tyres] while we watch from a distance,save our rubber and go for one pit stop less.
Quite crafty and it worked!!

[Nova]

I agree with Lauda...these tires dont allow the full potential of the cars....its not exciting watching cars pit, or watching my team have to relinquish the
lead after 5 laps simply because the tires make the car undriveable. I want to see my drivers race at full capacity, fight with other cars, race against them, not count how many
laps they can do b4 the tires go to lalaland.
I thought it was a slap in the face to fans to watch cars have to pit after 4 or 5 laps...wheres the racing gone????

[Tobes]

Lauda isn't wholly wrong, but it's not the F1 of the 70's or 80's, the cars rely so much on aero and very little on mechanical grip, I agree with Massimo, but I also didn't enjoy the processional races that became the norm a few years back as much as recent seasons, the tyre situation has made races less predictable, and ultimately the best drivers will still prevail, as was demonstrated at the weekend, but I agree tyre preservation isn't racing, there must be a happy medium, we just haven't quite found it yet...

[REDARMYSOJA]

Lauda isn't wholly wrong, but it's not the F1 of the 70's or 80's, the cars rely so much on aero

I'm hoping Vettel's drop in pace was due to the Red Bull's vaunted aero grip superiority, which means their car is going to be a tire eater this season.

[sagi58]

I'm hoping Vettel's drop in pace was due to the Red Bull's vaunted aero grip superiority, which means their car is going to be a tire eater this season.

Well, Vettel did name his car " Heidi"!!

http://www.nextgen-auto.com/Vettel-c...idi,57752.html

[eddie]

When teams are saving an extra set of tyres rather than participating in Q3, its fundamentally wrong.

This is F1 and not a F1 tyre saving competition....

I am with Lauda on this, the old man knows, in racing artificial excitement isnt a thing for F1.

What next, artificial rain... lol!

Excitement seekers should go to a theme park or a movie instead

[sagi58]

...What next, artificial rain... lol!

In March 2011, it was on the table:

Ecclestone wants artificial rain in F1

... it is widely acknowledged that for true unpredictability and excitement, a heavy rain shower cannot be beaten.

"Look at the races we have now," Ecclestone told Formula One's official website. "Overtaking is almost impossible because in the dry there is only one line good for maximum speed because of the rubber on the track.

"You have a completely different picture when it is wet. We always had the most exciting races in the wet - so let’s think of making rain.

"There are racetracks that you can make artificially wet and it would be easy to have such systems at a number of tracks. Why not let it ‘rain’ in the middle of a race for 20 minutes, or the last 10 laps? Maybe with a two-minute warning ahead of it.

"Suspense would be guaranteed and it would be the same for all."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/010320...l-rain-f1.html

[eddie]

In March 2011, it was on the table:

That old man is sure too crazy, may as well go for fire ring loop jumps... lol!

[Aberracus]

Tyres are the same as air. designs are made to use air the best so you can design cars to use tyres better than others. its just an element of design next year engines as well so a balance of all 3. F1 races a few years back was just arro and no overtakes where you started you normally finished. Development of the car for tyres is just as big as designing parts for air to flow over but makes better races.

I Totally agree, tyres are the same for everyone, so its another variable in the game. Too much grip and you are destroying your tyres, yo have to balance everything. Don't see the tyres as neutral components they are part of the hazards.