推 MerinoSheep:光頭胎 ..╮(﹋﹏﹌)╭.. 10/27 21:57
推 u1302094:~(￣▽￣)~(＿△＿)~(￣▽￣)~(＿△＿)~(￣▽￣)~ 10/27 23:56
各位看倌，從下個賽季規則有改變，請看這句話「rule changes mean that teams
are set to use slick rubber for the first time since 1997.」就是要用slick rubber
，所以在2009的賽季，各位車手的表現請拭目以待了，以下文章是Bridgestone在介紹公
司的輪胎從以前賽季到現在的使用情形，各位請慢用了，謝謝。
資料來源：
http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2008/10/8591.html
Goodbye grooves - Bridgestone hail end of an era in Brazil
This weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix will see Formula One racing bid farewell
to grooved tyres, a feature of the sport for the past 11 seasons. From next
year, rule changes mean that teams are set to use slick rubber for the first
time since 1997.
Grooves were introduced as a means to slow the cars, which the tyres achieved
by having a smaller contact patch with the road for any given tyre size. A
smaller contact patch not only means less grip, but also that the rubber that
is in contact with the road has to be harder.
After the Interlagos race has played out, Bridgestone’s grooved racing tyres
will have been used at 188 Grands Prix and at countless Formula One tests
over the 11 years. When they were introduced it was a new concept for
motorsport, and one born of regulations rather than evolution.
“Developing grooved tyres was very exciting for us as we only had experience
of slick racing tyres,” explains Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone’s director
of motorsport tyre development. “We had the challenge of developing a tyre
with a hard compound because of the structure and tread profile of the tyre,
but one which gave the good grip required for Formula One.
“From an engineering perspective it has been a very interesting aspect of
our motorsport activities. We began testing our first grooved tyres in 1997
with Damon Hill. The first tyres were a modified slick tyre to let us
understand the differences and requirements of a grooved tyre. We soon found
that the wear rate on the front tyre was very high, and we experienced a lot
of graining, so the compound we used for this tyre would have to be a lot
harder.
“The data we gained also proved to us that we would need a very strong
construction of front tyre. We redesigned the size and shape of the front for
a wider tyre and one with a larger diameter. This worked very well and we
could manage car behaviour better than with the previous size.”
The changes to the regulations for 1998 were not limited to the introduction
of grooved tyres. They also saw the implementation of narrower cars to reduce
downforce. The changes presented the teams’ designers with many challenges.
“One of the teams we were going to supply for 1998 was McLaren and their car
had already been designed for the smaller front tyre size,” explains
Hamashima. “We had a lot of discussions with their chief designer, Adrian
Newey, about this as he was very insistent that he wanted to keep the smaller
size. However, after the first test he accepted the concept and modified the
car.”
Grooved tyres proved to be good for Bridgestone, with their first pole
position, race win and fastest lap all achieved in the very first race of
grooves, the 1998 Australian Grand Prix. These feats were all accomplished by
McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen, who went on to take the world championship that
year - the first to be won using Bridgestone tyres.
“1998 is a very memorable season for us,” says Hamashima. “We faced a
competitor, Goodyear, which had been in Formula One for many years, but there
were new regulations and we gained the advantage.”
For the next two seasons, Bridgestone was the only tyre supplier for Formula
One racing, and this brought the additional test of supplying all of the
teams on the grid with grooved tyres.
“We faced a big challenge for 1999 as we found ourselves supplying all of
the teams in Formula One, and this was a big logistical step for us,”
explains Hamashima. “Then we faced a stronger challenge when a new and
hungry competitor entered Formula One.”
Michelin came into the sport in 2001 and the development of grooved tyres
really took off.
“The competition between our two companies was intense and our understanding
of these tyres increased at a rapid rate,” says Hamashima. “We developed a
new construction concept which allowed good grip but less wear to counter the
grooved tyre characteristics, and we had a big battle with our rival tyre
manufacturer with this tyre.”
How a grooved tyre interacts with the road is different from the way in which
a slick tyre works and for the drivers it was a new sensation.
“Driver comments when we moved to grooved tyres were not so favourable,”
explains Hamashima, “as drivers always want more grip, and grooved tyres,
by design, have less grip. Also, grooved tyres mean that graining is far more
likely and this means something else that drivers have to control in their
tyre management.”
Graining, where sideways forces mean the rubber rolls across the tyre,
changes the grip characteristics of the tyre when it is occurring.
“Graining is more common on grooved tyres as the compound is harder and more
difficult to get working on a dirty track,” explains Hamashima. “The
grooves also mean there are many edges on the tyres for the raised areas.
Slicks are less susceptible as there are no edges, the compound is softer and
there’s a bigger contact patch.”
Bridgestone was once more the only tyre supplier in Formula One racing for
the 2007 season. “When we provide tyres to all teams the philosophy is
different,” explains Hamashima, “as we are no longer constantly developing
compounds and constructions to make faster tyres. Instead, we work to ensure
that our tyre supply is fair and our tyres are consistent for all teams, for
example, by providing tyres for each race which are made in the same batch.”
Bridgestone’s supply of grooved tyres to all teams through 2007 and the
current season (the first of three with Bridgestone as the official tyre
supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship) has meant lap times have
got closer and closer.
“We saw at the start of the 2007 season that some teams quickly understood
how to maximise the potential of the different compounds and the strategy
options these allowed, whilst some teams took longer to develop their
understanding,” says Hamashima. “However, as we approach the end of the
2008 season we can see that there is very good understanding of our grooved
tyres by all teams and lap times can be very close.”
It’s all change for next season, however, and Bridgestone’s focus is now on
slick tyres. “The return to slick tyres means we can apply the lessons
learnt from grooved Formula One tyres to slick Formula One tyres,” says
Hamashima. “2009 should be a very interesting season.”
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