Drivers report high wear on intermediates

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Bridgestone’s new intermediate tyres are proving a challenge for F1 drivers who are reporting high levels of wear on the wet-weather rubber.

Nico Hulkenberg said the tyres were wearing out quickly in yesterday’s wet session at Jerez:

Even though we were picking up a lot of water on the track they still seemed too soft. They were wearing a lot quite quickly.
Nico Hulkenberg

Like the new slick tyres, this year’s intermediate sets feature narrower front widths.

Jenson Button also reported high levels of wear but thinks the problem may be down to the Jerez track. He said:

It’s quite an abrasive surface here. The wet tyre felt like it would last forever but the intermediate had a much shorter lifespan. I think that was the same for everyone. It’s about keeping a balance so you’re not destroying one end. It is an abrasive surface and layout here and we saw the same thing last year.
Jenson Button

Wet weather is expected to return during the next two days of testing at Jerez, which should give the drivers further opportunity to test the intermediate tyres.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “Drivers report high wear on intermediates”

  1. Mouse_Nightshirt
    11th February 2010, 19:45

    Jenson probably doesn’t mind if they wear quicker – he’s good at the tyre management side of things.

    1. Yeah, i get the feeling Jenson could be this weird little darkhorse in that respect. (darkhorse in his championship year lol)

  2. I think even if Jenson can make a set of tyres last an entire race.. there will be no chance in hell for him to become WDC again. Speed and skill matters.

    1. “Speed and skill matters.”

      Knowing when to use speed is now what matters. That will be the ‘new’ skill.

      Being the outright fastest driver may be of use to you in qualifying, but not if you ruin that set of tyres by being fastest in qualifying. In the race the further your qualifying tyres get you then the faster you will be able to go on your second set of tyres. You can no longer just ‘Banzai’ everything and hope to win a race, but that’s where the ‘skill’ comes in.

      1. Anyway, does JB not have “Speed and Skill”?

      2. Surely racing should be about going as fast as possible?

    2. Prisoner Monkeys
      12th February 2010, 3:28

      How does the ability to make a set of tyres last for an entire race when no-one else can do it fail to qualify as skill?

      Seriously, Button is probably one of the best – if not the best – at managing his tyres, and all of it has to do with his driving style. He’s got a huge advantage this year because he uses the weight of the car to generate heat in the tyres; as the car gets lighter, he doesn’t lose any speed because the tyres are already up to temperature.

      If Button says the high rate of wear on the intermediates is down to the track surface, then I’m willing to take him at his word.

    3. do you mean that “jenson only won the world championships beacuse of the car”?

      if yes then 99% of the drivers dont deserve it right including schumacher?

  3. I hope this tyre issue can be resolved or we may see unwanted and serious incidents…

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