Monday, July 24, 2006
Have the tires turned?
Looking at the comments from Renault in the shape of Flav I wonder if perhaps bridgestone have come back to the top.
The natural conclusion from a Ferrari return to form is to look at the engines or the new parts being brought to the car and at first look that appears to match. We all assumed that Bridgestone didn't win at Indy but that Michelan in their need not to make the same mistakes again went too cautious and lost. And we also know that Ferrari brought a load of new parts to France. So far so good.
But watching the race last weekend one thing grabbed me instantly - Ferrari are doing something new with their tires. You could see that on the degraded tires at the end of the race. They had been trying something new. Now I will say that I wasn't able to tell if this means the tires have improved of if it is that the update on the Ferrari itself allows them to use the Bridgestone better. But in a way it doesn't matter which. It just means that Renault are going to have a lot of work on their hands if they are going to avoid Ferrari beating them for the rest of the season. Maybe that's why Flav seemed so uncharacteristicly upset. Either that or his kidney stone was giving him gip.
Also just to be clear in the current situation if Michael won every race and Alonso came second (2 points 7 races) he would get 14 points but Michael is 17 points behind Alonso. If Alonso was held in third by Massa it would be comfortable for Michael.
Maybe the new engine rules and the re-introduction of pit-stops has levelled the field so much that it will come down to the conditions on the day of each race? Anyway, has the tide turned? Maybe Michelin have lost impetus, knowing they're leaving at the end of this season anyway?
I've been thinking the same thing about Toyota too, but the gain seems too big just to be tyres, doesn't it? And I bet most of the improvement is down to Mike Gascoigne, who of course isn't there to get the credit anymore.
Germany has been a Michelin favourite for the last few years, I think, so we'll get to see this weekend...
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