Hamilton.......

[tut]

Drives brilliantly, looks ridiculous.

tut

[tut]

Disappointed that Vettel could not have said that if Hamilton's tyre was underflated by .3lbs and he had a 26 sec lead, that it would have made no different to the result.

However Rosberg's was down by 1.1 so if that was deliberate them Mercedes deserve to be hammered.

tut

[r10crw]

From what I heard everyone suggested that lower is better and hence they want to be at the minimum? If so I wonder where the cut off is? I had assumed the limit for min pressure would have been set below the optimal pressure so that you have a window where you can adjust before getting to the safety threshold but looks like thats not the case. Is that the case for most tyres or just the design of F1 tyres?

[robin]

Who knows - the whole F1 tyre thing is weird - they are deliberately constructed to cause problems - I say let the teams run them any which way they want, and if the tyre blows up because you were running it at 0psi, that's your problem!

Cheers,
Rboin

[woody]

It's a safety thing based on the recent failures. Apparently the minimum is now 1 PSI higher as well, though I forget the source on this, should check really. So a window yes, but for various reasons they chose to be, aggressively, at the lower end of it.

Given it's a safety thing it's quite strange for Pirelli to check, find the pressure below minimum, let him start & then have a fuss towards the end when he/they're on a different set anyway. If anything surely the tyres should have been swapped when checked, perhaps in the pitlane or a mandatory pit stop given in the first few laps? Given neither this didn't happened & there was judged to be no sporting advantage, it was a non-issue.

Spotted my new bike tyre had a minimum of 110 PSI molded on the side at the weekend - last year's model of the same tyre didn''t.

[Corranga]

I think Pat Symonds put it best for me saying that rules are hard lines, and that if you are 0.3lbs below the limit, you are below the limit and should be disqualified, otherwise, all the teams would add half a cc to the engine, a couple of mm to their wings, bigger brakes etc.

Of course it seems that the reality is that Merc filled the tyres under the supervision of Pirelli staff, and they were fine then. From what I've read, the Pirelli guys then re-check the tyres on the grid, but Merc had tyre blankets on that were turned down which meant the pressure was lower. So all is fine with Merc, though Pirelli are, yet again looking like idiots, though it does sound like Merc might be flaunting the rules a bit by heating the tyres up prior to filling with air so as to get less air in maybe?

As for low vs. high, isn't it that lower air pressure puts the tyre under more load when cornering? Higher pressure starts to harden the side walls, so tyre deformation is less, but obviously a less deforming tyre means less grip as the weight of the car rolls to the outer edge.

It's a safety related rule, so why not let the teams choose the pressure, and make Pirelli fill all the tyres, and refuse to do so if the team request a pressure that is too low.

[campbell]

It's all about the lawyers.

[tut]

As for the penalty points system...........

They showed clips from the 1971 Italian GP won by Peter Gethin whom I had never heard of, he came from 4th on the last lap to win, and the first four over the line were separated by 0.18 secs with 12 retirements out of 24 starters. Hamilton won by 26 secs.

It was the fastest F1 race of all time at over 150mph, until Schuey in 2003. Thems wus the days.

tut

[woody]

I think Pat Symonds put it best for me saying that rules are hard lines, and that if you are 0.3lbs below the limit, you are below the limit and should be disqualified, otherwise, all the teams would add half a cc to the engine, a couple of mm to their wings, bigger brakes etc.

Which is probably BS to lead some to his point of view? Rules may be hard lines, but tyre pressures aren't.

Appears to me the (new) process isn't refined or robust enough.

[mckeann]

Everytime I check my tyre pressures, a little air escapes. So ignoring the temperature drop scenario, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that in the process of checking and double checking the pressure, you can lose 0.3 psi

[BigD]

I think Pat Symonds put it best for me saying that rules are hard lines, and that if you are 0.3lbs below the limit, you are below the limit and should be disqualified, otherwise, all the teams would add half a cc to the engine, a couple of mm to their wings, bigger brakes etc.

Which is probably BS to lead some to his point of view? Rules may be hard lines, but tyre pressures aren't.

Appears to me the (new) process isn't refined or robust enough.

Yes and what Toto was saying stands true also. When were they measured, what was the tyre temperature, where was the temperature measured and with what equipment???? Far too many variables in that.

So the tyre could be below the limit at a certain temperature but perfect pressure at the desired temperature and no doubt go higher too as the temperature increases.

The whole tyre thing is a bit of a mess......

[GBOBM]

If all tyres were under inflated then that would be an advantage.
one tyre at a different pressure is surely a disadvantage?

[Dominic]

If all tyres were under inflated then that would be an advantage.
one tyre at a different pressure is surely a disadvantage?

Not necessarily. IIRC it was Hamilton's left rear that was slightly down - as it is a clockwise track, that tyre is likely to take more punishment, (esp around the parabolica), so will generate more heat and therefore during the race may actually run at a higher "hot" pressure than the other rear... IMHO.

It was only 1.5% down, which in my opinion is so negligible it would have made no difference at all. There are so many variables it is nearly impossible to get an accurate tyre pressure measurement.

One question.... are the tyres filled with air? Or a less temperature sensitive gas? The tyre temp clearly has an effect on the pressure, however surely the heat generated in the brakes also has a fairly significant influence?..

[campbell]

Bernie proposes introducing concrete tyres. Teams move to cement the new regulation before laying foundations for rock solid start to 2016 season.

[graeme]

Why have 0.001mm-precision components hurtling around on 4 contact patches made of compressed dinosaur, variables, and vulcanised incompetence.

Ban tyres completely for 2018 and see what the teams can come up with instead.