F1: tyres

For what it's worth, I think drivers should drive on the track...not on the kerbs, grass etc. the smoother the kerbs are, the more they are going to straighten out the bends. If it was down to me I'd make the kerbs out of super strong fly paper to encourage them to stay within the white lines- either that or incur time penalties for going over the white lines and therefore off the track.
I'm going now! :coat:

Sorry guys, I just couldn't resist (hope it's not already been posted!)

As Sir Stirling said: the art of the driver is to make the car perform on whichever track conditions you have, don't tailor the track to the cars. This was said in response to the present generation of drivers moaning about bumpy corners.

Pirelli's brief was to make degrading tyres: looks like they've been a bit literal in the interpretation.
Not doing their public image much good either.

I don't think the kerbs should be an issue to the tyres personally though I'm not a fan of drivers bouncing over them.

It's interesting to note the driving precision and skill displayed at Monaco, where there aren't wide run off areas etc. They do think twice when a momentary lapse of concentration or risky overtaking chance taken results in a face full of Armco or a swim in the Med. :yesnod:

Back to Stirling: a smooth corner is one that you can take with all four wheels on the track.....

And as a slightly less famous driver, David Coulthard, said there's no problem about keeping off the kerbs. That's what they do in the wet.
It's the FIA that says they can have two wheels off the track.

Incidentally I saw several instances of all 4 wheels well off the track in that race. Was anything said? NO.

Well well, the plot thickens.

Teams using tyres the wrong way around!

One of the problems all racing teams in all levels of the sport share, is the irresistible temptation of over stressing components in order to gain a few poofteenths of a second per lap.
But in order to finish the race first.......first you must finish the race!
The trick is knowing when to stop playing funnybuggers with set up, tunning etc and just race the bloody thing!
There is a fine line between a broken car and a trophy.

Compared to the old days modern F1 cars are incredibly reliable. The tracks are much safer as well.
With the sport being as heavily regulated as it is the teams and drivers use every possible trick to gain a bit of an advantage. An advantage being just a few tenths or hundredths of a second. Who can blame them, just look at the difference in lap times between the top 12 cars.

On the other hand Pirelli has got to be very p issed at the bad press it's tyres are receiving. I'm sure they would be more than happy to supply tyres as reliable as the Bridgestones used in F1a few years ago.