BLS has a comment on the race report from his Benson-ness linking to the awards thread, I haven't found the one linking here.
Go away guests. We don't like your kind round 'ere! That should balance it out. So anyway since that's all technical gibberish to be me what does it mean in terms of the likelyhood of Mercedes and/or Pirelli being punished in some way? It was being played down this morning, but that note from the FIA indicates that they may have broken the regulations after all? Its top comment in the Benson report on the Mercedes investigation. Linking to the photo of the FIAs statement.
From what the FIA have said, it sounds like Pirelli are the ones at fault for being negligent. I can't see them back in F1 next year. Hankook anyone?
Nowhere near what General Chat had for the Tulisa sex tape, but a definite record for F1. BLS posted a link to that FIA printout. Edit: Comment 15: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22676348
F1 doesn't need to make Pirelli the bad guy though... we could soon run out of willing suppliers if we continue like this.
Too much money involved for that to happen. As long as there is F1, then there will be people willing to supply tyres.
It's a funny one, as presumably Pirelli approached Mercedes about the test, and told them how it was to function. Mercedes probably don't have access to the complete contract Pirelli have with the FIA, otherwise this 1000km test clause wouldn't have seemed like such a shock to other teams. I suspect Pirelli have then told Mercedes how the tests works, and herein lies the problem. Whether Pirelli misunderstood/misrepresented their own contract, I don't know, but I think the problem boils down to the facts that it was a 2013 car, and that Mercedes, not Pirelli personnel, ran a lot of the test. But, Mercedes will say they were only acting within what they were told was legal, and you can't really punish them for that, to my mind anyway. And how do you publish your tyre manufacturer??? That would make a lot of sense, seeing as they're hardly a well-known company in the west (compared to Pirelli, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Yokohama, Dunlop, Firestone etc). If you want exposure, F1 is probably the best platform, it's far more global than DTM.. However, a company with a lesser brand reputation are probably less likely to take the risk of high deg tyres. What that means in terms of the spectacle, I don't know, but I was always disappointed DRS wasn't given a chance to show it could do a job by itself. I was trying to focus on the less salubrious elements of this place!
I don't think we'll be seeing deliberately **** tyres again after this. It's a shame because they got the balance right in 2011 and salvaged what would otherwise have been an incredibly boring season.
It's so exciting that I feel almost like a celebrity and I'm off to make my own sex tape right now...
How bad is it though? They've embedded the brand in people's minds, short term they'll be associated with tyres which delaminate dramatically, but long term the brand will be more recognisable. In years to come people will look back on photos and footage of the last three years and see the Pirelli brand, their logo is really prominent on the hats the drivers wear on the podium, this era will be looked back on as having some of the best drivers and they'll be wearing Pirelli merch when they celebrate wins. It will be good publicity for them in the long run I think. Whether it's worth it depends on how much money they've blown.
There are surely other ways to improve F1 as a spectacle. I'd much rather see a shift away from the current situation where aerodynamics generally dictate everything, and I'm not just saying this as I'm not a Red Bull fan! I think we should halve the amount of downforce the cars have, but compensate with the best tyres in the world, so what they've lost in aero grip they gain in mechanical grip. That would give us similar average speeds, but make following another car closely more simple. Also, if tyres play a much greater role in the characteristics of a car, tyre degradation wouldn't have to be as severe to see the current speed delta's we have between cars on old and new tyres. That'd make things safer too, as you won't be pushing tyres as close to the ends of their lives.
Does anyone really think that any of the top teams would blithely allow another top team to conduct an exclusive three day tyre test using this year's car?
nah, people might remember pirelli, but if they do it'll be burned into them to associate Pirelli with tyres that fell apart and wore out so quickly that racing drivers did nothing but complain, they are selling a product not celebritism, being well known for having a crap product is not good marketing.
