Fair solution needed for 2014 tyre testing – Brawn

2014 F1 season

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Whatever solution is found for the teams’ need to test tyres for 2014 must be a fair one for all competitors, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has stated.

Teams had the chance to run prototype tyres for next year during the two practice sessions on Friday at Interlagos but were largely prevented from doing so by persistent rain. The FIA has ruled they cannot use them during Saturday’s final practice session.

Pirelli is eager for more tyre testing ahead of next year to ensure their rubber is suitable for the new generation of engines. But Brawn warned that having just one team conduct a test for Pirelli could give them an unfair advantage for next season.

“I think whatever flows now has to be fair for all the teams,” said Brawn. “I think we’re in a very delicate position.”

“I think we all want to help Pirelli provide the best tyre they can next year but it would be unfortunate if one team had the benefit of running a tyre to the exclusion of all the other teams.

“[Friday] would have been the ideal situation for everyone to get a first look at the 2014 tyre, take the data away, and that would have been reasonably fair. I think if we end up with only one team running the 2014 tyres before next year, with no provision today or no ability today to run the tyre, that could end up a pretty unfair situation, that someone’s going to have an insight into what the tyre does and how it works.

“So, I think we have to look at that very carefully, how we can do something that is fair and proper for all the teams.”

However Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali warned about the consequences of not getting early data on Pirelli’s planned 2014 tyres in good time:

“I agree with what Ross said about being able to be balanced and having the equality within the teams but it will reach a point where for sure if there’s no kind of test, the negative hit of not having a test will be really important, so I think that in the next days we need to decide what to do for the future in this very hot topic.”

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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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17 comments on “Fair solution needed for 2014 tyre testing – Brawn”

  1. I’m sure the owner of the Ascari complex wouldn’t mind the extra income, say in two weeks? :-)
    All joking aside, it’s an option.

  2. look whos looking for “fair” solution …. bwaha ha ha …

  3. Couldn’t all the teams stay in Brazil for few more days until the circuit is dry and then do a proper tyre test? They could ship the extra parts they need (extra engines, gearboxes, etc) or want (parts they want to test for 2014) in the next couple of days after the race as I understand it should rain there for a few more days but eventually there’s gotta be a dry day right?

    1. I too was wondering that…

    2. Rain is hit or miss this time of year. I guess, sure, they could stay here in Brazil for a few weeks, I’m just not sure how they could schedule testing.

    3. Staying behind isn’t an option for a couple reasons.

      All the transportation back to the UK/Europe is already booked & hotel reservations etc.. are also only booked until Monday/Tuesday.
      They also only ship over what they need for the weekend, Having to fly fuel & extra bits over at such short notice would be costly.

      Plus the circuit may not be available, It runs other events through the year & not just racing events.

      1. Yeah, @gt-racer, I guess that the biggest issue is that everything is arranged to be flown back to Europe during the monday inlcuding all personnel.

  4. Such a simple thing to resolve . Stay an extra day and complete the milage . Otherwise have a test day in some neautral location where all the teams interested can do x amount of laps in the tyres with Pirelli and FIA keeping a close watch .

    I don’t know why FIA hesitates everytime and still makes a bad decision in the end . We DONT WANT cheese tyres please and the only way is to give Pirelli A CHANCE to make the tyres right . Otherwise , we will see a repeat of 2013 .I know that people will say that Pirelli have given ultra conservative tyres . But still , there may issues like bringing the tyres to temperature , window of performance ,grip levels , dealing with extra torque , Locking up etc etc which Pirelli can easily miscalculate or the teams can calculate differently . There needs to be a test.

  5. SaturnVF1 (@doublestuffpenguin)
    23rd November 2013, 6:05

    It would be so simple for the circus to stay at Interlagos for a test day this week but I’m pretty sure that’s impossible at this point. Are the 2014 tyres going to be structurally different from the current ones? If it’s just the compounds Pirelli want to try, that can be done during the first test when the new cars are still being shaken down. But if the tyres will be very different structurally the teams should really get the chance to test them before most of the 2014 parts are finalized. One test in Britain for the teams based there and one test in Italy for the European teams should keep costs lower than they might be to organize one in Spain. But the British teams are’t guaranteed better weather than they got in Free Practice today.

    1. SaturnVF1 (@doublestuffpenguin)
      23rd November 2013, 6:09

      Forgot to mention that the teams would want to be sure to have non-Coanda exhausts on the car, 2014-like downforce and even torque maps to make the test as useful as possible, so new parts and software may have to be made for it.

      1. The teams don’t want to give other teams a hint of how their exhausts and wings look like. i doubt it wil happen, though Mclaren would like to do a test in December.

  6. And here we go again… wawawa fair wawawa everyone wawawa.

    Can’t they finally stop being a bunch of babies.

    Pirelli should tell them, no test no tyres next year. Let’s see if they like that.

    Brawn in this case though needs to shut up, he’s not being team manager next year, so he has no say in this.

    And Dominicalli is right, tests are needed, no tests means **** next year.

  7. Mercedes tested 2014 tires on a 2013 car several months ago. Said they didn’t gain any advantage. Did they lie? :D

    1. No they didn’t lie. There was no data shared. They were not privy to info on the tires that Pirelli ran on their cars. Brawn is speaking now of tests that would obviously involve data sharing because the teams need info to build their new cars around.

  8. It seems very Mickey Mouse if F1 has relied solely on 3 dry weather practice sessions during which they know the teams cannot strictly test 2014 tires, in Brazil, with high odds of rain, as their Plan A, with what seems like no Plan B in place.

    1. Make that the 2 Friday sessions as I see Saturday was never in the equation.

  9. All this should’ve been done at the Texas race where the rain probability is much lower.

    Btw F1 lacks strong leadership at the top of FIA, someone with vision and guts needs to lay down the law, “we’re doing this for the good of all in F1, whether you like it or not” is what we should be seeing more of. The distribution of prize monies is not fair to all, this matter of the weight of 2014 cars should not be an issue, just raise it (over any and all objections) otherwise it could/should be easily challenged in court as discriminatory to taller/heavier drivers. And what is this dumb thinking that they don’t extend free practice sessions that are interrupted by accidents or other unforeseen circumstances? Why not fix the “stupid” corners most circuits are plagued with, that’s the excessive chicanes and other ill-conceived ones that are against the true nature of the F1 cars and annoy both the drivers and viewers. F1 is shot thru with problems, the decision consciousness is at too low a dimension and needs serious happen consistently at a higher and more enlightened level. (rant over).

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