The Tire Situation in the Australian Grand Prix
The tire situation in the Australian Grand Prix was a farce and threatens to turn the season into one as well. I’m all for more competitive racing, but this was an outright joke.
Bridgestone is not to blame. Let’s start there. The tire company is the sole provider for Formula One after Michelin infamously blew it in Indianapolis and ultimately withdrew from the sport. Bridgestone is charged with bringing two types of tires to the track. The teams must then use both types for at least one lap in the race.
Apparently feeling it hadn’t messed with things enough, the FIA mandated that Bridgestone was to bring two compounds that were very different. It did. The teams received the super soft and medium compound options. What a disaster. The harder tires were very hard to warm up and the soft tires went off after a few laps to the point where the cars on them were five seconds slower than those on the hard compounds.
I am all for making Formula One more exciting. This tire situation goes too far. It reduces the racing down to a proposition of gambling. I would rather see teams win or lose because the car or driver is better or worse than the competitors around them. Putting it down to the tires is both uninteresting and a bit of a howler when it comes to establishing excellence.
We had two of the most exciting championships in Formula One history in 2007 and 2008. Why are we making all of these changes?! I understand and agree with the cost cutting, but this is not about cost cutting. The tire policy smacks of someone just making things up as they go along. It does not make for good racing and it does nothing to emphasize the quality of team or driver.
Make the tires a non-issue!
Lemmy