Michelin British Grand Prix Preview

By Andrew Hooper
July 3 2002

 

 

  
Michelin: British Grand Prix Preview
 
During the most recent round of the FIA Formula One World Championship - the Grand Prix of Europe at the Nürburgring - Michelin-equipped cars monopolised the front row of the grid and Kimi Raikkonen (West McLaren-Mercedes/Michelin) took third place in the race.

Ralf Schumacher & Pierre DupasquierDuring the build-up to the season's 10th F1 event of the season on July 7 in Silverstone, England, Michelin motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier would like to underline a couple of points that some of the more attentive observers made about the previous race in Germany.

The first concerns the performance of our rivals at Ferrari. Dupasquier says: "It is worth noting that it took only 38 laps for Rubens Barrichello to be a full circuit ahead of the next-fastest chassis on the same kind of tyres - and that was a Sauber, which is also powered by a Ferrari engine. That underlines a level of performance that is presently unique to the Italian team."

The second point concerns the different strategies adopted by certain teams. Dupasquier adds: "By their nature, tyres that offer a very high level of performance tend to suffer a higher rate of wear but they can be used strategically according to their strengths and weaknesses: in theory, they are suited to cars running short stints on light fuel loads.

"But we saw at the Nürburgring that Kimi Raikkonen (West McLaren-Mercedes) ran a one-stop race and started out with a 30 kg weight penalty because of his extra fuel load. That made him about one second per lap slower - so what might he have achieved had he opted to run a two-stop strategy?

"Believe me, Monsieur Edouard Michelin did not leave disappointed after attending the Grand Prix of Europe. He would far rather witness an audacious challenge than a walkover victory!"

This 5.140-kilometre Silverstone track (3.19 miles) is very different from any other at which we have raced so far this season and features an interesting blend of quick and slow corners. For the British Grand Prix Michelin has selected new primary (A) and option (B) tyre compounds.

One of these was recently evaluated during a test session in Barcelona. Silverstone can be quite abrasive and so the tyres we have chosen come from the "harder" end of our range.

Pierre Dupasquier says: "We are determined to pursue tyre development in an appropriately aggressive manner and will continue to work closely and harmoniously with partner teams that share our every ambition."

Pierre added: "Those who are going to have success in Formula 1 need to develop aggressively. Over this weekend we learned quite a lot and we now know how to approach the near future. The modifications are going to turn out more radical."

"From now onward, we are going to apply a conservative tyre composition. Perhaps the tyres may lose some grip, perhaps they won't. We are always in a position to take the pole-position. However, it can also be an advantage to start from the second row of the grid - in order then win the race."
 
 
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