SHANGHAI, April 17 (Xinhua) -- With diffuser dispute
in F1 world championships just being settled down, the tyre complaints arose on
Friday at the Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for the weekend in the Shanghai
International Circuit.
Several drivers, notably Renault's
Fernando Alonso and Brawn's Rubens Barrichello, have voiced concern that
Bridgestone has chosen to bring the same tyres they did in Australia - their
medium and super-soft compounds. Many struggled on the super softs in Melbourne
and opted to run them early.
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Brawn GP Formula One driver Button drives out of the pit during the first free practice session of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International circuit, in Shanghai, east China, on April 17, 2009. Button clocked the 2nd fastest time of 1:37.450 in the first session. (Xinhua/Fan Jun) Photo Gallery>>> |
"I think it is the worst decision they made in a long
time, because it is a ridiculous tyre for here, for Shanghai," complained
Alonso, who was in a moderate ninth place in the morning session in Shanghai.
"I don't know if Bridgestone made the decision or the
FIA, but they have to reconsider this type of decision because we look
ridiculous on television and we look ridiculous for the spectators, and it is a
joke to be in front of TV six seconds slower.
Winner Jenson Button and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel
opted to use them in their final stints in Melbourne, and that contributed to
the incident between Vettel and Kubica as the Pole gained ground on the German
whose tyres were graining very badly and thus losing their effectiveness.
The surface of the Shanghai International Circuit is
quite abrasive, certainly more so than Albert Park, and many fear this will only
exacerbate the problem.
"We will need to change the tyres after five or six
laps, is our calculation, because this track is harder than Melbourne and there
we only did eight or nine laps," said Alonso.
Barrichello echoed the Spaniard's view. "I still need
to understand what is the reason why we bring such different tyres, if it's for
the show itself or I think we have a very good tyre for here and a softer tyre
which all the teams might struggle with," said the Brazilian who finished third
in the first practice session.
"That may make the race itself very nice because
someone might be struggling, you have overtaking and that's quite nice, but I'm
sure we're capable of bringing, out of the four types of tyre that we have, we
can bring different tyres that can be better for us drivers."
"In Australia, the tyres were already graining after
five laps and it will be the same here, possibly even more because the track
itself is more abrasive, and if it's cold the tyres are going to be a bad
effect. If this is for the show itself, I don't think it's dangerous for us.
"Danger in the way that you could be driving five
seconds slower and another car is catching up quite quickly, but it's lovely for
the show itself."
Alonso said that the Grand Prix Drivers Association
voiced their concern about the tyre choice after Australia, but that no notice
has been taken of the drivers' views.
"We expressed our concerns and now in the third race
we have the same tyre at a worse circuit. This is something that we need to
change immediately," added the former champion.
Turn One here is notoriously hard on tyres, and
drivers are concerned that in extremes the super softs will have lost their edge
before the end of the lap. They would have preferred Bridgestone to bring their
medium and soft compounds.