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"Did you know that Brazil has
never actively started a war? Well I didn’t, but I found that fact quite
cool. We will see the final showdown of maybe the biggest-ever tyre war in
Formula One this weekend at Interlagos, so at least we can say Brazil will
end a war!
The tyre war is great – I love it, or I guess it’s more accurate to say it
was great. As a test driver it was great to see the tremendous speed
increase that made us go quicker with every new tyre development. As a
soon-to-be-race driver I hope for good racing, of course, the same as the
spectators, so I sincerely hope Max Mosley and F1 are right to adopt a
single tyre manufacturer.
 Back
to Brazil: it is a hard track in many ways and the tyre choice is very
difficult. There is a big question mark over how soft you can select the
tyre compound, as no one knows how much graining one will find in Brazil. It
seems that both tyre manufacturers step into the unknown when selecting the
final choice of tyre compound. My guess is we will have lots of variations
of compounds – some very optimistic (soft) and some conservative (hard).
That might mix up the field a bit and give the last race a bit of extra
spice, especially for the teams who are fighting for the Constructors’
title. I could be wrong, but there just might be a surprise turnaround in
one of the World Championships... let’s see.
Brazil is also ultra-hard for the drivers. The amount of laps and g-forces
are really high and the track is anti-clockwise, which puts an extra strain
on the neck, which is better conditioned to clockwise tracks.
And to top everything, it is very bumpy, which also increases the workload
on the neck in a big way. Basically, it’s a killer track on the body and
makes the local caipirinhas look like lemon juice! In case you’ve tasted a
caipirinha, let me compare one race in Brazil with eight caipirinhas. And if
the car is hard to drive, well then that compares to eight caipirinhas on an
empty stomach! Just to help you with this scientific comparison – I am a
lightweight when it comes to drinking!
The long, uphill straight to the finish line, a sheer power test for the
engines, is also a question of how much wing/downforce one should run.
However, the infield requires more downforce, so it’s a compromise in terms
of the level you run. The infield also needs a good mechanical set up –
sometimes a soft set-up works very well, but might compromise you in the
first sector with its quick corner section and change of direction.
I will enjoy Brazil, my last Friday test job, which, as well as being
important to Williams, is also key to all other Bridgestone runners, as my
information also helps the other teams. They watch like hawks to see what my
tyres look like after my long runs.
So let’s get ready for Interlagos to see the end of the great tyre war, the
showdown for the world Championship crowns and the last Grand Prix for
Michael Schumacher.
Samba, samba!” |
