Poll Should Tyre Blankets be Banned?

[ExtremeNinja]

Nothing wrong with rolling starts. Pole man pulls the trigger on the start line, no messing around with computerised clutch settings and all that poop. So much more down to driver reaction and awareness of everyone around you. Rather than everyone reacting to the lights, everyone reacts to each other. Sorts out the starting under safety car issue too. You can work out what the track is like on the rolling up laps.

I'm fine either way but my point in this instance is that it means the tyres are heated naturally rather than electronically.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Mephistopheles, sorry but you've lost me somewhere along the way. I'm not quite sure where you are at. The race starts on the grid, not the pit-lane. I might just be being a bit thick in putting your point together.

 

[Brogan]

I can't see the difference between using an infra red tyre warmer and tyre blankets, if the purpose is to reduce cost.

Let's not forget that the cars sit on the grid for around 20-30 minutes so heating the tyres up before they leave the pits would be pointless.
Currently they drive to the grid, the wheels are removed and placed in blankets and then replaced a few minutes before the warm up lap.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I know ExtremeNinja I hadn't realised I was being so cryptic I'll start again.

Keep the blankets as is when they are on the grid also keep the blankets as is when they are stored in the garage ready for pit stops the only difference being instead of heating the tyres up to race temperature only heat them to say two thirds or three quarter race temperature so it will be down to driver to manage getting the rest of the temperature into the tyres making the starts, the pit stops and the out laps more challenging and more entertaining for people who want to see that sort of thing.

Didn't you know that the tyres are in blankets just before they are fitted during the pitstops?

I hope I have made myself clear now if not I'll go and stick my head in the freezer...

 

[ExtremeNinja]

No, that's cool. Makes sense, although that is what they do now, isn't it?

No need to be sarcy either. I genuinely didn't get your point. I think probably because it was spread over a number of posts and a tick in a box and interjected b other posts. Thanks for explaining and no thanks for the sarcasm.

 

[GeoffP]

The idea of 24 cars piling into the first corner with cold tyres makes me shivver - I voted no, I think tyre blankets are a relatively inexpensive safety device, not perfect, but definitely make the track a little more predictable.

Also the idea of a car coming out of a compulsory pitstop and driving a couple of laps with little control, right on the limit trying to get heat into the tyres - sod the front wing rules, they'd be replaced with bumpers.

 

[sushifiesta]

No No No No No NO NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
First off, it's often mentioned in the same sentence as cost saving measure. Seriously? Every little helps, maybe, but this is like saying that I will save money on my electric bills if I unplug my phone charger. Or that if I go to the ocean with a bucket I can help reduce sea level rises due to climate change. Give me a break. F1 should be expensive, in the current climate maybe some teams need to be restrained a little for the benefit of all, but it's meant to be the pinnacle of motorsport...

Secondly, we already have drivers having to hold pack and run to some target time to get more out of the tyres. I want to see them pushing to the limit every lap. Sure it might be fun to see them sliding around for a few laps, but then after a while Mr. Exciting ends in the pit lane again and Mr. Conservative wins, or we see even more overtakes where one driver has no hope of defending. I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the tyre lottery, don't make it worse! Let the hare beat the frickin turtle!!

This post is far too heated than it should be for something as trivial as tyre warmers.... I needed a bit of a vent

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I liked your post then unlinked it. I agree with the sentiments but maybe a bit OTT. There are alternatives that could be considered. Technology perhaps. Going way out on a limb the tyres could contain something that produces a chemical reaction like those things that warm your hands up when you go skiing. Maybe different compounds with different charicteristics, maybe rolling starts. I don't know. It's worthy of discussion. I definitely wouldn't have drivers starting on the current tyres cold, though. That would be a disaster or a chain of disasters.

 

[Galahad]

There was an article in Autosport on this topic - it has certainly reared its head as a cost-saving measure. Gary Anderson said the cost saving would be negligible compared to the damage repair cost likely to be incurred. Ross Brawn said that in the event of a ban, the teams would retain all the equipment for use in test sessions to save time, so there would not in fact be any real saving at all. Plus Pirelli would need to make new tyres, closer to their GP2 product. So no!

 

[The Pits]

No. This seems to me like a tip of the hat, let's make it look like we are doing something. There are any one of hundreds of ways to save money, in a far more long term and sustainable way, so why bother with the miniscule periphery?

 

[Fenderman]

Where is this cost saving supposed to be made? The teams already have the kit so no saving there. It can't be to save the cost of electricity since there aren't any moves afoot to move the two ludicrously energy wasting late evening and night races to daylight. Looks like a blind for some other motivation to me.

 

[FB]

I wasn't thinking of it as a cost savings measure, more about making the drivers have to work a bit harder when they come out of the pits rather than the car being up to speed almost straight away. We now see drivers being jumped in the pits in the same sort of way we used to in the bad old days of fuel stops.

If a driver has to spend a lap or two getting there tyres up to temperature will it make the racing closer? Or, if it's the same for them all will it make no difference?

 

[Mephistopheles]

That's exactly the way I interpreted your post FB

 

[Boyle]

G hits it on the head for me. On the grounds that the damage likely to be caused on cold tyres at the start of the race would end up costing more anyway without even thinking of safety (especially where there is a long run to the first corner - Spain, China, Monza, etc) means no from me

 

[Fenderman]

Yes FB I hear what you are saying and considered that aspect in my earlier post: http://cliptheapex.com/threads/should-tyre-blankets-be-banned.5215/#post-142112

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I don't like the idea. It's a bit like blowing the whistle of a football match with all the footballers having a spanner in their hands and a pocket full of studs. I don't think that would add to the football and I don't think cold tyres would add to the racing.

 

[Fenderman]

ExtremeNinja I guess it could be argued that they would add to the entertainment

 

[ExtremeNinja]

So would a clown, a mime artist.and a human cannonball.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

FB. That's just me and Fenders having a bit of fun with my analogy by the way. I'm not ridiculing your original question. It's raised some interesting debate.

 

[Puhoon]

I think you missed my follow-up post, Puhoon.

Not all series that don't have tyre warmers have rolling starts.