Tyres Tyres Tyres: Has F1 Gone Too Far?

Formula 1 of late seems a far cry from the Schumacher dominated days of yesteryear. Instead of the multi million Pound  precession of cars we were once faced  with, racing today is far less predictable and overtaking is plentiful. Yet this seemingly vast improvement in racing, is often overshadowed by a significant factor in modern F1: tyres. F1 tyres have taken a leading role in determining the finishing order in races of late. Drivers and cars that are able to preserve their tyres are rewarded with far fewer visits to the pits. But has this damaged what many visualise as the World's fastest sport? Have F1's tyre issues pushed the sport too far from its roots?

The slick tyres used by today's current crop of F1 teams, are made solely by Pirelli. Pirelli were instructed by the FIA, F1's governing body, to create tyres that provided good grip for a short period of time. The intention was to create a challenge for teams with races requiring 2-3 pit stops. However the weekend's race at Barcelona showed how too much tyre wear means drivers are forced to run well within their limits in order to lengthen tyre life. The tyres have become a significant challenge, requiring continual management.

Jody Sheckter had to manage his innovative P34 in 1976

Nevertheless, if we look back over the past 60 years of Formula 1 racing, it is clear to see that racing drivers have rarely been flat out all Sunday long. Generally there has always been a factor that required managing, whether it be gearbox, engine or brake related. Drivers are not just there to push to the limits, but also ensure their machinery can carry them to the finish. In the 50s and 60s the main limiting factor tended to be mechanical, with a lengthy list of racers who 'Did Not Finish' often falling victim to engine and gearbox failures. Through the decades reliability improved, but high performance turbo engines in the 80s were still fragile beasts that needed heavy management over a weekend - they ran up to 600hp less during races than qualifying in order to just survive.

Today however, reliability is so good that races see few mechanical failures with engines competing in 3 to 4 races per season before requiring any rebuilding. Engines and gearboxes require very little management from drivers as a result, with simple engine mapping adjustments providing teams with confidence their cars will see out the distance.

Locking wheels can destroy a tyre in seconds

Especially from the fan's point of view, tyres are the main factors that require management. Many have voiced their disgust, and even 3 times F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel explained that his Red Bull RB9 could go far quicker over the course of a race if the tyres weren't such a limiting factor.

These issues do not seem to exist because something requires heavy management. Instead it's the fact it results in drivers circulating tracks 10 seconds off their potential pace. We even notice teams instructing drivers to "not fight" against others due to focusing entirely on their own race stint. Most of Barcelona's overtaking came in the form of DRS assisted straight line passes, whilst both Button and Vettel showed little flare when defending positions from attack. This meant despite the number of overtakes being sufficient, each was far less dramatic than many F1 fans would hope.

DRS assisted passes are often less dramatic

The Australian and Bahrain races were thankfully far better and so we can only hope that future races will be closer to them, but Barcelona should certainly serve as a lesson of what we don't want. F1 is the pinnacle of Motorsport, both in terms of drivers and car technology, so the last thing we want is a formula where neither of these things are being pushed to the limits.

Lewis Hamilton: Best When Behind The Visor

Lewis Hamilton, viewed by many as one of the fastest drivers to ever grace an F1 car. Phenomenal performances and aggressive racing, Lewis has brought some serious entertainment to World Championships of late. For this you'd expect him to be universally admired, yet there seems to exist more dislike for him than you might expect. So what does Lewis have to do to gain full respect amongst the world's elite racers?

I like Lewis Hamilton I really do, and that would not normally be expected for someone who has a soft spot for a pair of scarlet red cars. I often find myself admiring Lewis as a driver, but outside of the car he really hasn't made it easy for himself to become very popular. You may remember Lewis' misinformed accusation that Jenson Button, his team mate at the time, had unfollowed him on twitter. It was an incredibly awkward mistake that inevitably led to an embarrassing apology. You may also remember when Lewis revealed secret McLaren telemetry on his Twitter account, which created visible tension between McLaren's seniors and himself. Both of these very public incidents seemed to show a slightly hot headed Lewis that was unsurprisingly harder to like than say, the Felipe Massas of this world (what a nice guy).

Stevenage's (or is it Brooklyn's) Lewis Hamilton looking pretty Hip Hop

Thankfully, Lewis now seems to take an air of caution with his words on Twitter, recently only creating offence to the eyes of followers through his decisions to post pictures of himself dressed like an East Coast rapper. Although I suppose dressing in his native Stevenage colours wouldn't improve the situation much (Air Max tracksuits aren't great on a grown man).

Lewis has suffered 'hiccups' in other areas however, not least with the press. The lowest point came after his Ali G comments resulted in an unintentional racism storm back in 2011. Perhaps as a result of that, it does seem that he has now begun to manage his answers when faced with tricky questions, meaning he's joined the ranks of drivers who shield their true feelings behind a wall of generic "we'll see" and "maybe" responses. In many ways this is a shame as most fans want to see real emotion from drivers, but it's sure to keep the teams and particularly the sponsors happy, and they write the cheques!

Hamilton was fantastic through the junior ranks

Nevertheless, in my opinion Lewis doesn't even have to say anything to the cameras, or have to add a new twist to his Tweets; he just has to drive. I mean there's no denying it, Lewis is fantastic behind the wheel. From looking across his entire career, Lewis has demonstrated raw talent and natural speed in a range of racing machinery. It is true that he was fortunate enough to have had a push and significant funding from McLaren to get him to where he is today, but nothing can take from the fact he has demonstrated his worthiness and ability throughout. Even ignoring his successful junior years, his arrival in F1 was more than spectacular. Partnered with World Champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren, it was fair to assume it would be a very steep learning curve for Lewis. This didn't seem to phase him however, as he even managed to beat Fernando with competence and control not normally seen until several years into a driver's F1 career. We can't forget that had it not been for just a couple of costly errors and unlucky mechanical issues, Lewis could have been F1's first rookie World Champion.

Lewis celebrates his 2012 Canadian GP win

"But he's always been in a competitive car" I hear you say. This is true for the most part, but even if we were to ignore the results and focus entirely on his driving, his on track ability is nothing short of outstanding. Of all the current F1 drivers, his choice to set up the car in such a way that allows it to move about underneath him, creates some of the most fantastic on board footage and highly impressive driving. His style seems to be most prominent when he is on the absolute limit, where he seems comfortable with a significant amount of rear slip. This style was even evident not long ago on the BBC's own Top Gear, where Lewis managed to reduce the fastest Top Gear track lap time in the 'very normal' Suzuki Liana, by over 1 second. Stick him in anything on 4 wheels, and you can be confident Lewis will wring its neck.

So despite his colourful antics in the paddock and less than perfect image, when he sticks on the helmet and is belted into his car, I am a big Lewis Hamilton fan. Let's hope that 2013 will be the time he does the talking on track (but not in the Kimi Raikkonen "leave me alone" sense however!). Maybe then Formula 1's wider fanbase will begin to finally accept Lewis for what he really is, a phenomenally talented racing driver and wholly deserving World Champion.