Germany: Michelin perhaps too aggressive
By Michelin Sport July 30 2006
Kimi Raikkonen was the leading Michelin finisher in today's German Grand Prix. The Finn qualified on pole position but his bold, three-stop strategy was not enough to overcome the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa, who both pitted twice for fuel and replacement tyres.
Kimi Raikkonen was the leading Michelin finisher in today's German Grand Prix. The Finn qualified on pole position but his bold, three-stop strategy was not enough to overcome the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa, who both pitted twice for fuel and replacement tyres.
Raikkonen scorched into an early lead, with Schumacher and Massa in his wake, but had to make his first scheduled stop early. He pitted on lap 10, because a technical problem prevented the team putting enough fuel in his car before yesterday's final qualifying session (which determines fuel loads for the start of the race). Raikkonen subsequently spent much of his afternoon stuck in traffic but on a clear track he proved to be a match for the Ferraris' pace and his best lap was only 0.118s adrift of the race's best.
Running with a new engine specification for the first time, Jenson Button qualified and finished fourth his best result since March, when he was third in the Malaysian GP. He crossed the line almost five seconds clear of Fernando Alonso, who continues to lead Schumacher in the world championship. The Spaniard has an 11-point advantage with six races remaining.
Giancarlo Fisichella ran ahead of team-mate Alonso in the race's early stages, but eventually had to settle for sixth. Christian Klien also scored a point on Michelin tyres, the Austrian's first since the season-opener in Bahrain.
Three other Michelin drivers finished the race. Vitantonio Liuzzi was 10th, ahead of David Coulthard and Scott Speed. Coulthard qualified 10th but was forced off the track on the opening lap, when Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher hit him from behind. Speed's team had to put in a hard night's toil ahead of the race: the American crashed heavily during yesterday's qualifying session and incurred a significant amount of chassis damage.
Of the other Michelin runners, BMW Sauber team-mates Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld had to pit at the end of the opening lap, after they collided at the hairpin. Both rejoined, but Heidfeld retired with brake problems and Villeneuve crashed without injury after he was unable to catch a slide his car had suffered serious oversteer ever since the initial impact with Heidfeld. Rubens Barrichello ran as high as fifth early on, but he retired with a technical problem on lap 19, moments after making his first scheduled pit stop.
Nick Shorrock
Formula One Director
Michelin
"Despite the intense hard work that went into preparing for the German Grand Prix, we were caught today by a number of problems that simply weren't apparent during our pre-race test. We obviously need to look at all the data in detail, but initial analysis indicates that many of our cars suffered tyre-blistering problems at the rear. We obviously expected high temperatures, but the products we brought to Hockenheim were perhaps too aggressive and we need to examine ways to prevent this happening again when conditions are similar.
"We have lots of data to analyse Honda and Renault ran on the same compound this weekend, for instance, but different constructions and we will capitalise on the lessons learned today to make sure we select an appropriate range of products for Hungary next weekend, when temperatures are likely to be similarly hot.
"The world championship fight is becoming ever more intense but we will respond accordingly."
Running with a new engine specification for the first time, Jenson Button qualified and finished fourth his best result since March, when he was third in the Malaysian GP. He crossed the line almost five seconds clear of Fernando Alonso, who continues to lead Schumacher in the world championship. The Spaniard has an 11-point advantage with six races remaining.
Giancarlo Fisichella ran ahead of team-mate Alonso in the race's early stages, but eventually had to settle for sixth. Christian Klien also scored a point on Michelin tyres, the Austrian's first since the season-opener in Bahrain.
Three other Michelin drivers finished the race. Vitantonio Liuzzi was 10th, ahead of David Coulthard and Scott Speed. Coulthard qualified 10th but was forced off the track on the opening lap, when Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher hit him from behind. Speed's team had to put in a hard night's toil ahead of the race: the American crashed heavily during yesterday's qualifying session and incurred a significant amount of chassis damage.
Of the other Michelin runners, BMW Sauber team-mates Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld had to pit at the end of the opening lap, after they collided at the hairpin. Both rejoined, but Heidfeld retired with brake problems and Villeneuve crashed without injury after he was unable to catch a slide his car had suffered serious oversteer ever since the initial impact with Heidfeld. Rubens Barrichello ran as high as fifth early on, but he retired with a technical problem on lap 19, moments after making his first scheduled pit stop.
Nick ShorrockFormula One Director
Michelin
"Despite the intense hard work that went into preparing for the German Grand Prix, we were caught today by a number of problems that simply weren't apparent during our pre-race test. We obviously need to look at all the data in detail, but initial analysis indicates that many of our cars suffered tyre-blistering problems at the rear. We obviously expected high temperatures, but the products we brought to Hockenheim were perhaps too aggressive and we need to examine ways to prevent this happening again when conditions are similar.
"We have lots of data to analyse Honda and Renault ran on the same compound this weekend, for instance, but different constructions and we will capitalise on the lessons learned today to make sure we select an appropriate range of products for Hungary next weekend, when temperatures are likely to be similarly hot.
"The world championship fight is becoming ever more intense but we will respond accordingly."
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
More headlines
latest threads
Poll
