Dear Friends,
As a follow-up to my blog dated 28Oct08, I asked Mr. Hamashima a naive question: ‘Are some drivers better or worse in the way they use their tyres?’ This question can only be asked to people at Bridgestone, as they are acquainted with all drivers. We may see a glimpse of drivers’ personalities, not readily seen on TV. It is true that regulars to the podium are indeed different. As per the previous issue, racing tyres possess two opposing functions: grip performance and abrasion performance. Too much emphasis on grip causes early abrasion and too much emphasis on abrasion decreases grip power. While racing tyres are designed so that these two functions are well balanced, the user, i.e., the driver must handle them based on thorough understanding of their features. Naturally, there are both “good” and “bad” ways of handling tires, and as you see from recent TV broadcasts, whether or not tires are used well or badly is one of the major factors that determines the win or lose of a race. Meanwhile, I asked Mr. Hamashima, ‘Which affects tyres more: the difference in characteristics of cars of each team, or the difference in how drivers use their tyres?’ The answer was the latter, so it goes that faster drivers are better in using tyres. To me, this was a rather unexpected response, as I thought it depended on the characteristics of cars. What did you think? So then, which driver handles tires properly based on his good understanding of their performance?
‘Hakkinnen is known for his showy driving and aggressive attacks. Naturally, the more aggressive you are, the faster the tyres will wear out. Consequently, you may have to suffer in the latter half of the race.’ Yet, to my surprise, Mr. Hamashima continued, ‘While Hakkinnen appears to be aggressive, in reality, he does not go beyond the limits. He knows how to handle his tyres.’
‘On the contrary, Schumacher drives very smoothly, yet again, he is using his tyres just to the limit and also knows his tyres well.’ While these two drivers appear to be totally opposite from each other, in reality, they both make good use of their tires. These things that can’t be noticed at one glance are what make motor sports all the more enjoyable.
Mr. Hamashima’s serious encounter with Schumacher was in 1991, when he visited Japan to participate in just one race, the 6th race of All Japan F-3000 held in Sugo. From that time, he had been using his tyres very well. Also at that time, Mr. Hamashima recalls that Schumacher showered technical questions on him. He was deeply moved and thought of Schumacher then as a very studious driver.
Finally, to my question: “Who is a lousy user?” Mr. Hamashima responded plainly: “I can not really say for the sake of the drivers’ honor, but frankly, in spite of the fact that they are all F1 drivers, some are lousy users.” He never did tell me their names, though.
I hope you will enjoy the next issue even more, as we will be going into more technical issues. See you next time! To all my faithful readers, here is an MONEY SAVING OFFER you will not be able to resist especially in this time of recession
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