David Coulthard has some interesting views on his BBC column

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22512693

Pirelli are not a very good tyre company.
I understand the request the FIA made to them but the fact is that having drivers not racing is a result of the vagueness in that request. What they need to do is produce tyres that have a much higher operating temperature, that way thermal deg isn't a problem and drivers should be able to really push without significant risk of overheating. This wouldn't increase longitude either so the number of pit-stops intended would be the same. Of course this would bring other issues such as teams possibly struggling to heat the tyres (like Jenson at Brawn) but it is preferable to what we have.The graining issues (like the Barcelona problem) are something else, but any tyre company wishing to supply F1 should be able to produce tyres that do not grain regularly or to the degree we just saw.
I just think the only serious problem the fans have is that the drivers can't push. Solve that and the problem will go away. Personally I would like Michelin back, but Ferrari in the US caused anger that may still be felt today.
Lastly, I found Paul Hembery's comments regarding Red Bull pretty sad. He said something along the lines that "if we make the tyres more durable then Vettel will be off in the distance every race". I don't want the FIA or a sole tyre supplier actively trying to hinder one specific team, the days of Ferrari calling the shots and the rules need to be over...... for good!

The tyre situation is a complete farce. Bernie and his cronies have ruined the sport in a bid to get casual fans into it.

What is the point of having a race when no one is actually racing?

There's the DRS and KERS and the constant tweaks in the rules. That should be enough. I'm in favour of bringing back quali tyres and letting the entire field pick what tyre it wants to start the race on.

Would allow for a variety of strategies and make qualifying worthwhile.

I'm also in favour of restarting tyre wars. Get Pirelli, Micheli, Bridgestone, and even Dunlop into F1.

Rest assured if tyre management is the norm forever, Bernie can kiss the die hard F1 fans goodbye

I think 3 stops is I want to see tyre degradation but some consistancy.

Having said that Alonso and Raikkonen clearly appeared to be able to manage their tyres much better than the majority of drivers. Is it the car that allowed them to do as such or are they both generally better at managing these tyres.

Welshy, it's the design of their cars and the conspiracy theorists are suggesting Pirelli fed the new design for the tyres to Ferrari.

I do not believe that though. I'm in favour of having a tyre that degrades, one that degrades when it is punished, not one that degrades when a driver is driving miss daisy around the track. I'm even in favour of them falling off the cliff. I just want the drivers to be able to race.

Pirelli

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Most drivers do not even try daring moves anymore. They just wait for the drs zone and hit the magic button and whoosh

My gripe is that F1 preaches that is yearning to be more environmentally friendly - a % of biofuel must be used, small turbo engines are being introduced, the use of KERS etc. The reason for this is so that these sort of technologies will filter through to road cars. All this is fine and I don't mind - F1 is at the forefront of motorcar development so you'd expect any new break-throughs to come out of F1.

On the other hand, you then have things like DRS and the tyres which only last tens of miles, both of which have absolutely no real-world application at all. There's also too much focus on aerodynamics which again have little or no use in real life vehicles.

I know that the racing does have to be exciting and it does seem quite difficult to get a nice balance within F1. However, I'm getting really fed up with hearing the world 'tyres' mentioned in almost every other sentence during commentary.

I, personally, would reduce the amount of aero modifications to an absolute minimum so as to get teams to focus on the mechanical aspect of the car. Stick with things like KERS and get rid of the ridiculous tyre situation

Honda are returning to F1 with McLaren in 2015

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/5/14561.html

Most drivers do not even try daring moves anymore. They just wait for the drs zone and hit the magic button and whoosh
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don't agree with that.

I don't like drs either, but there are also miles more non-drs overtakes now than for years and years.

In the 00s every grand prix might as well have been Monaco. You actually get some track action now

Welshy, it's the design of their cars and the conspiracy theorists are suggesting Pirelli fed the new design for the tyres to Ferrari.
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Did they feed the new design to Lotus as well seen as they can get away with making one less pit stop that the other teams, you sad people are obsessed with all these wild way off the mark conspiracy theories about Ferrari.
Pirelli are doing exactly what they were asked to do.

he's got a good point there.

comment by Marcus Agrippa (U14412) "you sad people are obsessed with all these wild way off the mark conspiracy theories about Ferrari"

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I don't think you have read the previus posts correctly.

MUDD stated that he did not believe "the conspiracy teorists" a term that he used in a general way not specifically aimed at a JA606 member.

Aristodemus (U3765) comments regarding Ferrari are completely valid as any F1 follower should know.

Mr Agrippa, you would do well to read and understand a post before commenting. It would prevent you from making erroneous statements

There are more overtakes due to tyres falling off the cliff than skill JPB.

McLaren Honda, brings back fond memories. Honda will find unfortunately that the current McLaren outfit are not as competent as the previous version

If that comment was aimed at me, then I never said anything remotely like Ferrari were at the centre of a ongoing conspiracy.
I like the sound of McLaren getting factory backing though, otherwise they could possibly fall like Williams did when BMW left. Pretty good engine manufacturer to have for V6 turbo's too.

comment by JPB 606 (U16152) “he's got a good point there.”

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Marcus Agrippa (U14412) certainly does not have a good point there.

The comments regarding the USA, tyres and Ferrari relate to the controversy at a particular GP. F1 followers know that. You, for obvious reasons don't.

CVC, the F1 rights holder has published in their offer document that Ferrari receive special payments over and above the payment they get for constructor points. No other competitor is entitled to such payments. The offer document also revealed, what we all knew anyway, that Ferrari have the right to veto any change to the rules. No other competitor has a veto.

Back in the days before Bernie signed his deals with the teams, Ferrari would hold racetracks to ransom by refusing to attend a race meeting unless they received a special attendance fee that no other team could get.

Bernie changed all that but had to agree to the special arrangements that only Ferrari would have.

JPB – My advice to you is that you should stay clear of the motorsport section until you grow up. Stick to what you know best - posting on articles that have nothing to do with sport like BBC apprentice for example.

There are more overtakes due to tyres falling off the cliff than skill JPB.
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it may be a factor, but look how many overtakes there were in the first 3 laps in the last 2 grand prix. probably about as many as youd get in a whole season a few years back.

JPB, the point you are missing here is that those overtakes are cheap. In F1 overtaking shows talent and skill as it's not easy and when a great one happens, you remember it. For example Alonso taking Schumi at Suzuka and Hamilton taking Kimi at Monza.

Those moves stick in your mind because they were phenomenal not some button pressing crappy drs move.

Listen to the commentary and you will find the commentators are always quick to distinguish between a drs overtake and a regular move on track.

I'm not trying to diss you here but what Bernie has done is pander to the casual fan who just wants to see overtaking without a challenge.

I can assure you that the biggest problem with overtaking is down to aerodynamic aids on the cars. Ban them all and you will see improvements.

The reason why a lot of people were drawn to Alonso, Kimi and Hamilton is that inspite of how difficult it was to overtake the, they were still pulling off overtakes before these systems came in to help others who are not as talented like our current F1 world champion.

The writing was on the wall at Bahrain.

Vettel pitted early and rejoined the race in 5th place but was 3 secs a lap faster than the cars in front of him. Within 4 laps he was in the lead.

4 brilliant overtakes? Well not really - each of the 4 cars pitted on the lap they were “overtaken”.

There was no need to change the compounds in any season. Pirelli are just a supplier of components. Imagine if Brembo decided it was time to shake things up a little to produce more entertainment.

The pre-season testing was irrelevant as far as tyres were concerned. The Jerz track is too abrasive and not like any track they would race on and the temperatures at both test tracks were too low to be of any use for evaluating tyre wear.