OK, after many years of staying away from F1 due to various reasons I wont bore you with (I was once a huge fan, but got very disgruntled), I've decided to watch and follow it again this year.
But I'm a bit confused by some of the rules these days.
What's going on with the tyres? Why were they having to go out on different compounds at different points of the race? All seemed rather silly and potentially very dangerous? The reasons were not really explained on the commentary (or I missed it?), and google doesn't seem to come up with anything?

I believe they have to use both types of tyre's during the race soft and hard.

they can use them for as long/short as they like but must use both types

Thanks for the quick reply

But, why this rule? What are the reasonings behind it? Seems not to make much sense to me?

They did the same last year but the difference between the compounds wasn't that great so there wasn't a marked difference. Presumably the reason they've gone two stages between the obligatory tyres is to make more overtaking IE so each car will be (at some stage) faster than the other cars due to tyre choice alone.

The trouble with the super softs is they're great for 12 laps then go off very quickly so it makes a splash + dash stop an obligatory part of the "tactics".

It's a rule that's been in for a few years now - it's another cost-cutting thing I think. There was a time when the tyre manufacturers would bring several compounds to a race (and possibly different compounds for different teams) - now teams have a set number of tyres for each driver, and Bridgestone have 2 declared compounds for all the teams. There are green stripes on the "option" tyre so you can tell the difference. The other thing it does is prevents drivers from using all of their option set during qualifying, as they have to keep at least one set for the race.

What's changed this year is that the compounds are 2 steps apart, rather than 1 last year, so the difference between them is greater - hence why the Ferraris went slower after about 6 laps on the soft tyre. Having said that, Jenson, Lewis and Kubica didn't seem to have too much of a problem with them....

Ah, OK. I see what they are doing, but I don't think I agree - would seem to force more pit stops and therefore more 'pit' overtaking rather than on track

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Originally posted by bilbo
Ah, OK. I see what they are doing, but I don't think I agree - would seem to force more pit stops and therefore more 'pit' overtaking rather than on track

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Every race the commentary says something like "Driver A has still to use the crap tyres whereas driver B has already used them and can stay on the good tyres for the rest of the race".

I can't think of a good reason why teams are forced to use unsuitable tyres. Make all the tyre types available to all the teams and let them choose the good ones for the conditions.

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Originally posted by smart51
Every race the commentary says something like "Driver A has still to use the crap tyres whereas driver B has already used them and can stay on the good tyres for the rest of the race".

I can't think of a good reason why teams are forced to use unsuitable tyres. Make all the tyre types available to all the teams and let them choose the good ones for the conditions.

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It introduces a bit of artificial jeopardy and ramdomness which, to me, doesn't fit with what this or any sport is all about. It should just be about the drivers, the cars and the pit crews. It's a bit like getting runners in athletics to choose a lap of the track they have to do hopping, with one arm tied behind their back . Yes, you then get overtaking, but is it interesting to watch someone on two legs overtaking someone with one?
Oh dear, this sport is starting to irritate me again already

I quite like the new rules although i think there is a bit to much of a difference between the two tyre compounds. Great start to the season. (not just saying that because of who won). Nice to see different cars at the front of the grid and teams such as Ferrari and mclaren really having to work hard to get up to speed. Will be interesting to see how they change during the season. Looking forward to see how the season pans out!

Dave

Hi

As I understand it the rule to use both compounds in a race reduces the expense. Previously tyre producers would have to supply enough tyres of each compound to complete the weekends event. Now they have only to supply a fifty fifty mix, (at least thats true for race day).

Regards Mick

I thought it had something to do with prreventing tyre producers favouring certain manufacturers.

OTTOMH I think a few years ago Bridgestone produced tyres which were used by Ferrari and a few other small teams who didn't really matter. It seemed pretty much like a customer tyre optimised for Ferrari at the time so they had a lot of input and got a lot of benefit from it.

If a team has to use two different types of compound it prevents them getting too cosy with manufacturers over specs which suit them best as they have to cope with two differing types.

I could be talking rubbish but that's the impression I got at the time.

I love the way they have to invent new rules to try and make something boring more exciting!