The
seventeenth
and final round of the Formula One World Championship takes place this
coming weekend at Suzuka, Japan.
Michelin drivers performed strongly during the previous event in
Indianapolis. McLaren's David Coulthard finished
third and BMW WilliamsF1's Juan Pablo Montoya followed him
across the line, despite being delayed by a collision with his team-mate
early in the race.
Michelin motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier said:
"Unfortunately a number of incidents prevented our most competitive cars
from showing their full potential. Even so, we were very satisfied with the
way our tyres performed and they proved to be well suited to Indianapolis's
unique track conditions."
The next and final round of the championship sees the teams move to the fast
and winding
Suzuka. It is a circuit where the cars require plentiful aerodynamic grip and
a firm suspension set-up to provide maximum stability at very high speeds.
This unusual circuit is effectively a 5.830-kilometre (3.623-mile) figure of
eight and drivers will aver age about 210 km/h (130 mph) during the 53-lap
race. A strong qualifying performance is vital because overtaking is
notoriously difficult.
Michelin motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier enjoys racing at Suzuka and
says: "This is an unusual venue and previous experience is a definite
advantage if you want to get the most from it.
"Suzuka is a fairly balanced circuit, which partly stems from its
figure-of-eight layout, and tyre wear tends to be fairly even from right to
left. It is another of those tracks that demands a fine compromise when it
comes to set-up, because you need strong straight-line speed but also have
to run a considerable amount of downforce to maximise grip.
"The surface is fairly abrasive and we will be bringing dry-weather
compounds from the harder end of our range. One of them has already been
used this season and the other has been tested extensively but hasn't
previously been pressed into service during a race weekend. We did some more
development work on it recently. Tyre pressures will also be a factor. We
want our partner teams' cars to be as stable as possible in high-speed
corners and will adjust pressures as necessary to increase tyre stiffness.
"A combination of high fuel consumption and excessive tyre wear
traditionally make this a two-stop race. What's more, heavy fuel loads tend
to slow cars considerably - every 10kg adds about 0.4 seconds to a lap." |
