4 degrees of camber

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Originally Posted by Mark

I dont think it was a massive safety concern. Just that the tyres may lose grip faster.

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It is a massive safety concern. A very badly blistered tyre can compromise the structure of the tyre and delaminate.

There were comments during the week end about Pirelli and the FIA trying to force RBR to start the race on the prime tires from the pit lane.
I wonder why would that would have been good for everyone, but RBR.

Anyway RBR refused and it seems they judged teh tires better then Pirelli who actually builds them. No surprise really.

Seb gave Pirelli his own opinion about the situation before the start:

sebastian vettel mario isola pirelli spa belgium - YouTube

That's not the way I read the situation .

As I understand it , Pirelli expressed concern , Red Bull confirmed the camber angle , and were given the options of running as they were , or starting from pit lane , allowing for a tire change , and camber and/or pressure changes to stop the blistering .

They opted for staying put , rather than dealing with the safety concern in the pit lane .

And , judging by Newey's comments , they ran closer to disaster than he's ever done before .
It sounds like he feels more like he's been lucky here , rather than a good judge .

Who is held responsible if that disaster was to occur ?

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

...were given the options of running as they were , or starting from pit lane , allowing for a tire change , and camber and/or pressure changes to stop the blistering ...

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Can camber angle be changed after parc fermé?
How is this done? Is it relatively simple on an F1 car?

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Originally Posted by schmenke

Can camber angle be changed after parc fermé?
How is this done? Is it relatively simple on an F1 car?

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The question is if the camber angle was recommended before the race week end started.
The only driver in a top team who seemed not to have heavy blistering on his front left tire was Massa, the other ones were all having this problem.

In the end this is F1 and the tire supplier should provide F1 level tires that can cope with what the teams throw at them.
Michelin left F1 over a similar problem, Pirelli prefer to point the finger to the others instead of getting their fingers out of their rears and working hard.

PS: It is not simple to do especially as they will know bugger all about how the car will react to such setup change.

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Originally Posted by ioan

The question is if the camber angle was recommended before the race week end started.
The only driver in a top team who seemed not to have heavy blistering on his front left tire was Massa, the other ones were all having this problem.

In the end this is F1 and the tire supplier should provide F1 level tires that can cope with what the teams throw at them.
Michelin left F1 over a similar problem, Pirelli prefer to point the finger to the others instead of getting their fingers out of their rears and working hard.

PS: It is not simple to do especially as they will know bugger all about how the car will react to such setup change.

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Whilst I would love to throw crap Pirelli's way, if Red Bull were running to much camber and the others were burning their tyres trying to keep up then that's not Pirelli's fault strictly speaking.

I've never visually noted any unusual camber in F1, but Vettel's right-front was almost comical-looking. Very strange.

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Originally Posted by ioan

The question is if the camber angle was recommended before the race week end started.
The only driver in a top team who seemed not to have heavy blistering on his front left tire was Massa, the other ones were all having this problem.

In the end this is F1 and the tire supplier should provide F1 level tires that can cope with what the teams throw at them.
Michelin left F1 over a similar problem, Pirelli prefer to point the finger to the others instead of getting their fingers out of their rears and working hard.

PS: It is not simple to do especially as they will know bugger all about how the car will react to such setup change.

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This problem runs across motorsport and not necessarily the fault of the tyre manufacturer.

For instance in NASCAR, teams may go beyond Goodyear's advice and wear the right-front tyres down to the cord.

When BTCC race at Thruxton some drivers go beyond Dunlop's advice on camber angles and tyre puncture are not uncommon.

In answer to the original question, if a team sets up a car not within the recommendations given by the tire company, any consequence of a dangerous situation resulting from that is on the team IMO. F1 is about pushing limits as well all know. But when a team is pushing limits beyond a given spec and then pointing fingers at a supplier for a safety issue it's simply wrong.

As usual the FIA give lip service about safety issues, and didn't really get properly involved. Personally I think if Red Bull voiced safety concerns they should have measured the camber angles on the cars, and then forced Red Bull to correct the situation and start from pit lane. My guess is that the true intention of Red Bull was simply to start the race on fresh tires without penalty, due to screwing up their setup and eating up tires.

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Originally Posted by henners88

Personally I'm in the majority when I say I like the challenge Pirelli have delivered to the sport. I could quite easily get annoyed and blame the misfortune of the team I am following on the concept of the tyres, but in all seriousness I think it has improved the racing. Ferrari fans could also use the tyres as an excuse but we all know the fundamentals of both teams have been more at errors than simply the tyres. Blistering tyres were safety concern at the last event and Ferrari and mainly Red Bull were quite vocal in their disaproval of the tyres issued it seemed. Safety was the main point raised but as it was said on here, they were that concerned about the safety of their drivers they did not wish to alter the camber back to the recommended degree as supplied by Pirelli? Ha of course not because the main concern for the teams was whether or not their tyres would last as long as the opposition in the first stint hence losing them the advantage they thought they had gained in qualifying. Safety was a cloak and dagger way of forcing the issue as they knew the FIA would need to take an interest with that angle. It didn't work however.. :)

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I'm pretty much with you on that. In all likelihood, Newey was overreacting. McLaren were also blistering their tyres around Spa but they were not concerned about blowouts. In fairness, in 1998 the GoodYear tyres would blister on every set and no one was getting up in arms over it and remember MS tyre did explode on the pit straight in Japan. If Newey and RBR are that concerned then he should call for a regulation change so as teams can't go past the Pirelli recommended camber. Personally, I feel there was probably never any realistic chance of RBR starting from the pit lane.