Sidepodcast

We Only Get Judged by What We Do

Sometimes I feel sorry for the Bridgestone Corporation. Ever since the FIA opened the tender process to be Formula 1's single tyre supplier, their marketing department have been struggling to keep the black and round things at the forefront of our minds, and in most cases they've failed.

The manufacturer did manage to convince the powers that be to mandate two types of rubber be used per race. However that's served only to confuse race fans and quash any action during the final third of a GP. They only get press coverage when something goes wrong and teams are constantly referring to one their products as the "less favourable" or "inferior" compound.

Keeping all this in mind, my charitable side could almost forgive them for coming up with this loony marketing pitch:

Bridgestone may have created the ugliest Formula 1 tyre of all time.

Supposedly these things have been cooked up to promote the idea of reducing the impact of motoring on the environment, but let's not indulge anyone in such altruistic fantasies for one second. It's Bridgestone's home race and they are desperate to do anything that'll generate them a headline or two.

The tyres pictured above are to be used by F1 teams during this coming weekend. I've no idea how anyone is going to tell the one with the white and green stripes from the other one with just the green stripes, but I am now resolutely hoping for a very wet weekend - lest we have to set eyes on the damn things again.

Of course if you genuinely want green rubber, stuff that actually makes a difference and looks after the environment, you'll be wanting a some Michelin Energy Saver tyres. Those things have been proven to last longer and offer better fuel economy to the likes of you and I. Now that is something worth shouting about.

Am I being harsh or missing the point, is this a good initiative for the sport to be involved with? And has there ever been an uglier tyre in F1?

Ancillary F1 - Bridgestone

• Length: 3:29 
• Size: 3.3 MB 
• File: ancillary1.mp3 
• Transcript: ancillary1.pdf 
• Torrent: ancillary1.torrent 

Welcome to the first episode of the Sidepodcast mini-series: Ancillary F1. This series aims to look a little bit closer at the companies involved in Formula 1, the names you might hear around the paddock, but that aren’t directly competing. Today we’re looking at Bridgestone.

Bridgestone’s origins began, believe it or not, as a footwear company. Shojiro and Tokujiro Ishibashi started putting rubber soles on shoes back in the 1920s and they soon worked their way up to rubber tyres. The name comes from the English translation of Ishibashi – which means stone bridge. They reversed it, and the company flourished.

Despite the war, Bridgestone survived, and in 1950 they made a deal with Goodyear to once more enter the tyre industry. In the 70s, the automotive industry went through a massive boom, and by the 80s, Bridgestone was becoming a worldwide brand. Towards the end of the 80s, they bought out Firestone, who were already running tyres in Formula 1.

Bridgestone were dominating the karting industry, and expanding into Formula 2 and F3000. With the Firestone acquisition they had the connections but the money wasn’t there. Finally, in 1996, Bridgestone joined forces with the Arrows F1 team, and started winning over other competitors. Goodyear left the sport in 1998, which left Bridgestone as the sole tyre supplier. Michelin joined the fun in 2001, but just five years later, they left again, meaning F1 is once again supplied only by Bridgestone.

F1 tyres are made near Tokyo, where they are designed and tested, analysed and refined. There are many different materials that go into the makeup of a tyre, rubber, obviously, but also, oil, carbon, and steel. Approximately 60,000 tyres are produced each year and they go on an incredible journey from the moment they are made. Upon leaving the factory, the tyres are given an FIA barcode, and a number which makes each one individually identifiable. That way they can be tracked and allocated correctly to the teams. For European races, the tyres are shipped to Bridgestone’s racing base at Langley, in the UK, before being transported to the Grand Prix destinations.

Bridgestone control the fitting of the tyres to the team-supplied rims, and have to start the process on the Wednesday before a race weekend. The defending championship team gets first priority, and so on down the previous years finishing order. The tyres are delivered to the teams, and monitored throughout use. If a tyre fails during a session, either from a puncture or otherwise, they are quick to collect the tyre from the team, wrap it, and take it away for analysis. This can be done initially at the track, but the defective tyre will most likely be sent back to Langley, and in extreme cases, to Japan.

As a race weekend progresses, Bridgestone stockpile up the used tyres and return them to the UK base. These can be used for analysis purposes and many are recycled.

For the future, Bridgestone have been developing the slick tyres that return to F1 in 2009. We’ve also recently found that they will be seriously investigating the possibility of a single wet tyre, to cover all wet conditions, rather than the two specifications that are currently used. Whatever direction the sport goes in for the future, it looks like Bridgestone are here to stay.

That’s it for this first episode of Ancillary F1. I’d love to hear your feedback on this show, and what you think about Bridgestone. You can call our voicemail on 0121 28 87225, leave a comment on the blog or email me Christine @ sidepodcast.com. I will be back tomorrow with another episode and another company.

Theme music: Porter Block, Second Wind.

Where Tyres Fear to Tread

Of all the elements that go into a successful race campaign – driver, pit crew, engineers, aerodynamics, engines – the tyres are way up there with the most important. If your tyres aren’t working, you’re not going to get anywhere. We’ve seen drivers struggle because they stayed out too long, or because they’re suffering some serious graining, or even chunking.

However, if the car is hooked up and the tyres are working well, you can speed to an easy victory. As one of the most important components of a race strategy, it therefore follows that they are key to spicing up the action. Or so Bridgestone think.

At the moment, Bridgestone bring two compounds to each race, adjacent selections from the super-soft, soft, medium and hard tyres. This is only true of dry tyres, by the way, and that's all we're discussing here. A wet race demands enough strategy issues of it's own that we won't get into here.

Selecting two neighbouring compounds means the difference isn't all that startling, and although we can just about tell the difference between a soft, single lap tyre compared to a hard, go longer tyre, it's nothing to write home about. It doesn't make the drivers rethink their strategies too much, in fact we've only had one major decision based on tyres this year (Hamilton in Turkey).

Now, Bridgestone are suggesting that for 2009, they might try selecting compounds two steps apart. So, for instance, they might turn up to Monaco with super-softs and medium tyres. This apparently, like I said earlier, is the key to spicing up the action.

Let’s all issue a collective groan right now.

There are four different parts to this story.

The End of the Last Great Tyre War

Since Michelin departed from the sport, there has been less mention of the word Bridgestone. Previously, it was always Bridgestone this, and Michelin that, and it was fascinating to watch the pair go at it on a race weekend. Now, as a single supplier series, how often does the name actually get mentioned? We talk about tyres incessantly, but does it really matter who makes them? Not much. Ever desperate to get a mention, perhaps this is their way of reaching the headlines.

Slicks

Next year, teams will be using slick tyres. For me, this is enough of a change to need at least a year before making any more adjustments. I’ve never seen slicks in action, and I want to know what all the fuss is about. If you go around changing other bits and pieces as well, it means I can’t get the whole story. The first thing they teach you in science class? Change one thing at a time.

Tyre warmers

Bridgestone lost the argument regarding the tyre warmers ban, and they’re probably still smarting from that. Changing compounds is the only thing they really have control over, and it’s no wonder they want to exert that power.

Strategy

Bridgestone themselves admit that if they take it too far, then all strategy variances will disappear. If the difference between compounds is too wide, there will be one clear way to win the race, and all the teams will choose that path. You’ll see pit stops at the same time, and similar lap times, and it would actually have an adverse effect on the action. There’s a fine line, which must be difficult for Bridgestone to balance on, and adjusting this is not going to be easy.

It's Just an Idea

The last one is the most important, because the proposed claims are most likely going to end up one of those things that is tried out, doesn’t work, and is then retracted. I can only hope that it remains a proposal. Of all the things wrong with F1 right now, are tyres really a priority?