Formula
One's two-race sojourn in North America concludes this weekend at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Michelin will be aiming to extend its
comfortable lead in the world championships for drivers and constructors.
The United States has a long but fragmented relationship with grand prix
racing. America's most prestigious domestic race - the Indianapolis 500 -
counted towards the world championship between 1950 and 1961, to ensure that
the nation had a presence on the calendar at a time when there was no
suitable circuit for F1.
The first conventional United
States GP took place at Sebring in 1959 - and there have since been another
47. America has hosted F1 world championship races at nine circuits, more
than any other nation: Sebring, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Las
Vegas, Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix preceded the purpose-built Indianapolis
road course, which opened in 2000 to stage the first United States GP since
1991.
Michelin has yet to notch up its first victory at Indianapolis but has a
proud F1 track record in America. Carlos Reutemann (Ferrari, Long Beach and
Watkins Glen 1978), Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari, Long Beach and Watkins Glen
1979), Alan Jones (Williams-Ford, Long Beach 1981), Niki Lauda
(McLaren-Ford, Long Beach 1982), John Watson (McLaren-Ford, Detroit 1982 and
Long Beach 1983) and Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW, Detroit 1984) have all
scored world championship grand prix victories for Bibendum on this side of
the Atlantic. In last season's United States GP, Takuma Sato (B7A7R-Honda,
third) was the highest-placed Michelin finisher.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director:
"Indianapolis represents a real challenge because tyres have to cope with
sustained heat build-up for more than 20 seconds as cars negotiate the
season's longest flat-out section, which incorporates the banking and the
pit straight. In addition, they also need to generate sufficient grip to
maximise traction on the tight infield.
"These two contrasting characteristics oblige teams and suppliers to make
compromises in terms of aerodynamic set-up and tyre compounds. The banking
imposes a significant strain on the left-hand side of a chassis because it
partly compensates for centrifugal forces by increasing vertical loads,
which are then transmitted to the tyres.
In fact, the banking limits the extent of what we can do when it comes to
finalising our tyre compounds. We have to base our selections on this, the
most demanding part of the track. Softer compounds wouldn't survive the
banking but tyres that are too hard would struggle on the infield and would
soon be chewed up through sliding around excessively. The surface of the
banking is very abrasive - and that adds another contrasting factor to our
preparations, because the infield is quite the opposite."
Driver perspective:
Juan Pablo Montoya, Team McLaren Mercedes:
"I always enjoy racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As a venue it
holds some great memories and the fans are always so supportive and
enthusiastic. It is like a home race for me, with so many Colombians in the
crowd. The two contrasting elements of the Speedway - the tight, twisting
infield and fast, banked, oval section, where we run at full throttle for
about 20 seconds - present us with a unique challenge. There is a very high
loading on the tyres around the banked section, which puts an emphasis on
durability, but we need to find a compromise because we also have to
generate vital low-speed grip for
the infield."
Technical focus:
Nick Shorrock, Director of Michelin F1 Activities:
What are your impressions of the season's evolution on tyre choice?
"Moving into the 9th race of the season we can see several examples of the
importance of needing a total package in order to be successful. Our
partners work extremely hard to develop their cars, the chassis, the
aerodynamic package and the engine. For Michelin, there is also a
challenging programme of testing several weeks before a Grand Prix in order
to define the tyre choices to be used.
Such testing involves
essentially the choice of the rubber compounds, although there is a regular
review of our casing performance; mainly endurance. The major part of the
testing is done internally at Clermont in our laboratory tests facilities at
Ladoux prior to finalising the decision with our partners at the track.
These final tests are done in conjunction with our partners as part of their
vehicle tests.
These tests are a vitally important part of the race preparations as we are
able to tailor the tyre choices to adapt to the need of each of our partners
and their vehicle set-up. This again stresses the importance of the essence
of competition and the different developments possible. Each of our partners
has developed their vehicle in a different way and requires that our tyre
products are adapted accordingly." |
