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Even though the 2002 German
GP was won by Michael Schumacher, using Bridgestone tyres, for Michelin
the two BMW WilliamsF1 Michelin shod cars of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf
Schumacher finished second and third to complete the podium.
Ralf Schumacher would provide the main opposition to Michael for most of
the race, but he would have to make a late, unscheduled stop to top up his
hydraulic system and that dropped him to third behind his team-mate Juan
Pablo Montoya.
Juan Pablo would pull off
one of the moves of the race to pass McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen for fourth
on lap 11 and he moved ahead of Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello when the
latter was delayed by a slow refuelling stop.
Second place keeps Montoya at the head of a closely-grouped pack of
drivers behind Michael Schumacher in the points table. Only nine cars
finished a race of extreme attrition. For Michelin the only other
finishers were McLaren's David Coulthard was fifth and Toyota's Mika Salo
in ninth.
The championship now takes a three-week break before resuming in Budapest,
Hungary, from August 16-18.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director, responded to a few
questions
This has been a very tough race in fierce heat, but at the end both
Michelin-shod Williams-BMWs finished in the top three. Are you happy about
the way your tyres performed?
“Very much so. There was no scope for error in these conditions. Michelin
partners who ran our softer, option (B) tyre were very marginal in terms
of tyre wear and even those on our harder primary (A) compound had to be a
little bit careful. But our target was to produce tyres that would do a
particular job – and they did.”
Can you tell us which teams used which kind of tyre?
“Williams and McLaren both selected our harder, primary compound. Most
other teams went for the option, although one or two ran both kinds.”
Wear rate was obviously an issue in these conditions, but were you happy
with your tyres’ consistency?
“Definitely. I think our tyres showed they were very consistent and the
lap times of Michelin’s leading teams varied a lot less than those of
other cars at the front. We did not set the track record today – but that
was a one-off lap by the car concerned. The Williams-BMWs lapped in the 1m
16s range more often than any other cars. I was delighted to see that and
am sure we will have a very competitive final few races at the end of the
season.”
Generally, what has the new, shorter Hockenheim been like for tyre
manufacturers?
“Tracks conditions have evolved a lot, which we expected, but the rate of
wear was just as severe during the race as it was in practice, which we
didn’t. Usually the track becomes less abrasive as more rubber is laid
down, but that wasn’t the case here. We will have to analyse why, but I
don’t think it was necessarily a function of the higher temperatures we
experienced during the race.”
Have you any idea what caused the tyre damage to Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren?
“Our initial suspicion is that he sustained a cut tyre by running over
debris and that it began to lose pressure slowly. When you run hard on a
deflating tyre there comes a point at which it will fall apart
completely.” |
