Dembo

Actually it was Michelin that were shite at making tyres last a race. Bridgestone just went too conservative. Remember the races where the Renaults would be fast early on, then be slow as hell at the end because their tyres were so knackered? Remember Raikonnen in the lead pushing on at the Nurburgring rather than come in and change an obviously dangerous tyre, and the tyre letting go and taking out the suspension with 3 laps to go? Then there was Indianapolis...

I think getting rid of tyre changes was completely stupid, both in terms of safety, and because we were robbed of part of the spectacle - i.e. the fast pit stops.

Going back to a single tyre manufacturer should even things up. Tyres just make too much of a difference to allow different manufacturers. Ferrari's domination was mainly because they were the only decent team on Bridgestones, so when Bridgestone were good Ferrari won automatically, whereas when Michelin were good, there was competition.

Bada Bing!

I disagree, Renault went with too soft a compound a few times (Monaco most memorably when half the field overtook them), and Kimi flat spotted his tyre at the 'ring, whilst overtaking Villeneuve. Indy was a fiasco, and a result of a number of factors namely no testing there, new tyre formula, no changing tyres.

Other than that, Bridgestone's conservative approach resulted in tyres that couldn't warm up and which fell apart if you pushed too hard. They were gash, very much like their roadcar tyres. People need grip the minute their tyres turn, not 15 miles along the road once theyv'e warmed up!

It was a challenge, and if your tyres were dodgy you could have them changed at the next pit stop, there was no issue with that. I liked it, and it helped mix up the field.

Bada Bing!

BTW was anyone else genuinely shocked at the news that Alonso (egged on by Flav) is secretly trying to tear up his McLaren contract? You can't blame him, as everything about the move just seems wrong in the first place. The only reason he signed it was because Renault were rumoured to be pulling out of F1, but now they're signed up till 2011 (IIRC) then the only reason he had to leave is gone!

Hope it happens, Fernando at Renault is a match made in heaven, like Kimi at McLaren.

AlexC

Couldn't agree more - getting seriously fed up of seeing Nick Fry with his permanently fixed cheshire cat grin, trying to say that everything ok, and it will all be fixed soon ... when exactly?

At their current rate of backwards progess, Dave Richards is likely to come into F1 with his new Prodrive team and be kicking their butt in no time at all!

They really do need a major shake up, and perhaps Nick Fry and Gil de Ferran are the ones that need to be replaced.

Dunno who with though - do you think they could tempt Gordon Murray back into F1 team management?

Without a major shake-up soon, poor old Jenson really does need to think about a change of drive, before his reputation is permanently and irreperably damaged.

Bada Bing!

Just had a thought, has Jenson actually destroyed his own team? I always thought Honda booted DR because of a (much played down) personality conflict with Button, and the conflict was the reason he wanted to move back to Williams. Either that or Honda just got angry at DR for letting it happen in the first place.

So Jenson comes back to a team he came 2nd in the championship with the season before under DR/Prodrive's leadership, and ends up absolutely nowhere by the end of it with a team who are in disarray, behaving like a headless chicken.

Has Jenson brought about his own fate?

Just a thought...

AlexC

If that really is the case, then Honda need to recognise it, and boot JB out asap - there are plenty of other decent drivers out there.

Personally I don't think that is the case, but who knows? None of us, that's for sure.

RichUK

I don't think he can, can he? I thought he effectively bought himself out of his Williams contract and signed a long term committment to Honda.

Anyhow, who else would want him?

Disclaimer - I fancy he might end up at Prodrive though, just a niggling thought in my mind.

LTB

Driver's Championship
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Bada Bing!

Well, they've taken a couple of races to get up to speed, but they definitely have momentum now, and Alonso freely admits at the moment he just can't catch them. I don't count Massa's race pace as he's gash.

Kobe

Geoff Willis has now gone.. after the last Honda shakeup.. seemed a very decent guy with good experience.. and Honda seemed to have gone dramatically backwards after he has left.

I wonder if he will end up with Prodrive.. combination of him and DR did well when it was BAR.