A possible Michelin return to the sport...?

[dr-baker]

Surprised nobody has picked up on this news story yet...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82586

Some interesting points in here:

Michelin is closing in on a deal to return to Formula 1 next year, AUTOSPORT has learned, but it may not be as a standard tyre supplier.

Although a replacement standard tyre supplier would require the FIA to go through an official tender process, it is believed there is a chance the governing body will simply open up the entry criteria to allow any qualified manufacturer in - reigniting an F1 tyre war.

Should Michelin give the green light to return, then it could be against other tyre manufacturers such as Hankook and Kumho who have also been linked with a move into F1.

Michelin was not interested in becoming the sole tyre supplier when the tender process was opened for 2008 – believing it vital that the company faced competition if it was to invest in F1.

Earlier this month Michelin's managing partner Jean-Dominique Senard told the Bloomberg news agency that the French company was open to a move back to F1 if the sport could prove its environmental credentials.

And I originally misread the line, "It is believed that an announcement confirming Michelin's comeback could be made as soon as this month" as "It is believed that Michelin's comeback could be made as soon as this month." Whoops!

And it is no April's Fool as far as I know. How do I know? When it was published: Thursday, April 1st 2010, 12:24 GMT

[CarlosFerreira]

I did see it, but have been asking myself whether or not it is an April's Fool joke. Watch this space...

[mario]

I did see it, but have been asking myself whether or not it is an April's Fool joke. Watch this space...

You're not the only one who saw that and first thought that it might be an April Fool's joke.
However, if this is true (and I am holding back on this, because there is still some doubt in my mind), this would be good news. I suppose that the FIA wants to have a major tyre manufacturer in the sport, and since Bridgestone has pulled out, and with Pirelli and Goodyear disinterested, only Michelin was left out of the big players. This way, the FIA can get a high profile partner, whilst Michelin gets the competitive environment it wanted to push development.
Now, this would be quite a canny move by Michelin - not only would it be in F1, but with their tie in to Peugeot in the Le Mans series, they could really maximise their advertising might here, and erase any association with that US GP debacle.

[JeanDenisAlcatraz]

Here's hoping. And Avon. And Goodyear. Let's have a 3-way tyre war.

[Aerond]

Diario As from Spain confirmed the rumours, I´ll do a translation:

http://www.as.com/motor/articulo/formul ... imot_8/Tes

MICHELIN WILL COME BACK TO F1 IN 2011

Schumacher, De la Rosa and Sauber came back, and now is Michelin. Ultimately, the F1 World Championship is coming back to 2006 parameters. The french company will announce during April its comeback as a tyre supplier in 2011. The deal is closed. And they do with a condition: That a tyre war is allowed again.

Bridgestone is leaving at the end of the year and Korean suppliers Khumo and Hankook are the main candidates to be Michelin´s rivals on track, although is not clear if they´ll enter. They´re thinking about it [*]. The french tyre supplier could be alone for 1 year awaiting for another big supplier to enter.

The arrival of Jean Todt at the presidency of the FIA has been critical to re-establish the relationship with Michelin, really damaged after the 2005 US GP. There, their compunds couldn´t stand the oval and their teams didn´t go into the race.

The FIA "fired" them after the accident of Ralf Schumacher against the wall, thanks to a blown tyre. Michelin just finished their contract in 2006 and they won, with Renault and Alonso [*] their last F1 Championship. Michelin boss, Jean-Dominique Senard, told Bloomberg that they would only come back to F1 if it turns to be more eco-firendly "We´re considering to come back, but only under very specific issues".


* I love Diario AS, their journalists are the worst writers ever!!!!! They talk about sport like it was yellow press :p
* AGGGGGGHHHHHHHH, Why the word "Alonso" has to be written in EVERY PRESS NOTE :S. I´m Spaniard, I follow F1 and I love Alonso to win but for god´s sake!!! If they don´t mention Alonso they die!

[CarlosFerreira]

The news hasn't dropped off AutoSport's site yet, so I am guessing they're for good. They're not confirming either, but it's a good omen.

Waiting for Captain Hammer to come and have a go at the As news.

[mario]

The news hasn't dropped off AutoSport's site yet, so I am guessing they're for good. They're not confirming either, but it's a good omen.

Waiting for Captain Hammer to come and have a go at the As news.

I'm expecting that to be fairly explosive...
It is good to see that Michelin does seem to be serious about returning, although I think that we will have to be cautious aout this until we do get confirmation. However, given that Michelin have had recent experience in F1, they should be able to produce a decent tyre - I only hope that the other tyre manufacturers that come in can actually compete, otherwise it could be a pretty uneven battle.

[dr-baker]

There is another article on Autosport today about FOTA discussing KERS reintroduction for next year, and towards the end of the article, it states:

...while it is understood that the FIA is looking at increasing the diameter of F1's rear tyre rims to 18 inches for next year - up from the 13 inches of the current generation. This will produce much more mechanical grip, which should be another factor in helping boost the racing spectacle.

Might this be connected to a Michelin return?

Article: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82593

[watka]

I was a fan of Michelins in the noughties, they could be brilliant at some places and terrible at others, whereas the Bridgestones tended to be boringly consistent. Would be nice to have 2 manufacturers at least though.

[Phoenix]

It's nice news, for sure, but the ideal would be to have another or 2 more tyre suppliers, otherwise things wouldn't change at all.

[watka]

It's nice news, for sure, but the ideal would be to have another or 2 more tyre suppliers, otherwise things wouldn't change at all.

I seem to remember from MotoGP where there was at least one instance of 2 team-mates using different tyre manufacturers, to suit their styles. Don't ever see that happening in F1 because the cars are adapted more specifically to suit the tyre, but interesting nonetheless.

On the subject of MotoGP, you Spanish get 4 GPs this year, lucky sods.

[Waris]

I would like 18 inch rear tires (not front tires, there should be a larger difference between the front and rear tires!) and KERS back in Formula One next year. Whether Michelin or anyone else makes the tires, I don't really care. I hope there will only be one tire supplier though, because I don't really like tire wars: they introduce another different factor that can put some cars at an advantage and others at a disadvantage, based in no way on the car itself, so they can disequalize(?) things.
If they do bring more than one supplier, though, they should let teams pay for their tires, so there can be a healthy competition, and maybe one supplier might opt to make less durable tires for a lower price, which means teams will have to make a choice. So for me, it should be either one supplier supplying for free (my choice) or a tire war with suppliers that have to be paid.

[Tealy]

I would like 18 inch rear tires (not front tires, there should be a larger difference between the front and rear tires!) and KERS back in Formula One next year. Whether Michelin or anyone else makes the tires, I don't really care. I hope there will only be one tire supplier though, because I don't really like tire wars: they introduce another different factor that can put some cars at an advantage and others at a disadvantage, based in no way on the car itself, so they can disequalize(?) things.
If they do bring more than one supplier, though, they should let teams pay for their tires, so there can be a healthy competition, and maybe one supplier might opt to make less durable tires for a lower price, which means teams will have to make a choice. So for me, it should be either one supplier supplying for free (my choice) or a tire war with suppliers that have to be paid.

I really hope we go back to larger tyres, its been needed for a while.

A tyre war would prevent over-durable tyres like this year's Bridgestones because if they pushed for all out performance they would make a tyre 1-1.5 secs a lap faster. The only downside to a tyre war is when 1 tyre dominates but that is worth the risk in my opinion.

[Waris]

I would like 18 inch rear tires (not front tires, there should be a larger difference between the front and rear tires!) and KERS back in Formula One next year. Whether Michelin or anyone else makes the tires, I don't really care. I hope there will only be one tire supplier though, because I don't really like tire wars: they introduce another different factor that can put some cars at an advantage and others at a disadvantage, based in no way on the car itself, so they can disequalize(?) things.
If they do bring more than one supplier, though, they should let teams pay for their tires, so there can be a healthy competition, and maybe one supplier might opt to make less durable tires for a lower price, which means teams will have to make a choice. So for me, it should be either one supplier supplying for free (my choice) or a tire war with suppliers that have to be paid.

I really hope we go back to larger tyres, its been needed for a while.

A tyre war would prevent over-durable tyres like this year's Bridgestones because if they pushed for all out performance they would make a tyre 1-1.5 secs a lap faster. The only downside to a tyre war is when 1 tyre dominates but that is worth the risk in my opinion.

Granted, but in that case, after one year where one tire dominates, the FIA should order to bring the performance levels back together, like they're doing now with the engines.

[dr-baker]

It is also understood that serious consideration is being giving to the French tyre company's desire to make F1's tyres bigger - by running 18-inch diameter tyres rather than the 13-inch ones that are currently used.

Such a move would force teams to make a major revamp to their car designs for 2011 – and it something that Gascoyne believes needs to be thought through with great care before the go-ahead is given.

"It will have a huge impact – and it depends on how we address it," Gascoyne told AUTOSPORT about the prospect of Michelin re-entering F1 next year with 18-inch tyres.

"Some people are saying let's not allow anyone to change anything on the suspension and put 18-inch rims on it, which you can sort of see why. But then you are going to have to change it at some stage and, if you are going to do so, why not do it straight away.

"It is something that I have mixed views about. In some respects as a new team you like big rule changes because it is a great leveller. In other ways, as a new team, maybe you don't have the number of people and the facilities to cope with it – but bring it on. Whatever it will be, we will get on and deal with it."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82623

[mario]

There is another article on Autosport today about FOTA discussing KERS reintroduction for next year, and towards the end of the article, it states:

...while it is understood that the FIA is looking at increasing the diameter of F1's rear tyre rims to 18 inches for next year - up from the 13 inches of the current generation. This will produce much more mechanical grip, which should be another factor in helping boost the racing spectacle.

Might this be connected to a Michelin return?

Article: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82593

I've also heard a somewhat more cynical suggestion as to why Michelin want to run 18'' rims if they return to the sport - 18" also happens to be the same diameter as the rims they run in Le Mans for most, if not all, of the prototype cars. As a consequence, I have seen suggestions that Michelin could therefore be trying to reuse the tooling and equipment, as well as some of the knowledge, that they have available for the Le Mans series, instead of having to design a bespoke tyre for F1. That way, they can keep the costs of the tyres down (since the major driving factor behind Bridgestone's departure is the cost of designing and manufacturing tyres for such a specialised series).
Make of that what you will...

[Myrvold]

Granted, but in that case, after one year where one tire dominates, the FIA should order to bring the performance levels back together, like they're doing now with the engines.

You know, Robert Kubica said it the great way... "If you want to look at cars that are very similar, and fighting all the time, go and watch touring cars" F1 isn't about getting performance levels equal....

[Cynon]

Granted, but in that case, after one year where one tire dominates, the FIA should order to bring the performance levels back together, like they're doing now with the engines.

You know, Robert Kubica said it the great way... "If you want to look at cars that are very similar, and fighting all the time, go and watch touring cars"

Well, Robert Kubica isn't exactly the greatest racing driver, and I do stress racing driver. So that doesn't really surprise me coming from him of all people... it does seem kind of funny that he doesn't like actual motor racing and would rather see a parade/Spanish GP/rally...

Michelin vs. Hankook, anyone?

[Waris]

Granted, but in that case, after one year where one tire dominates, the FIA should order to bring the performance levels back together, like they're doing now with the engines.

You know, Robert Kubica said it the great way... "If you want to look at cars that are very similar, and fighting all the time, go and watch touring cars" F1 isn't about getting performance levels equal....

It's better to have equal performance than one team running away with the title, though, IMO.

[Myrvold]

True, but still, F1 is F1...

[Phoenix]

True, but still, F1 is F1...

It's a sport. It's about the better proving so. Even so, they'll be spectacle nevertheless (what about all those years between 1950 and 1990, when racing was still racing?)