A Lap with Jenson Button
"Starting the lap, I will accelerate up to top gear and a speed of around 310 km/h at the end of the pit straight before braking down to third gear for the first right hand corner, which I take at around 135 km/h.
"That's immediately followed by a left hand corner, making it almost a chicane, although I accelerate all the way through the left-hand part of the corner, apexing at around 200 km/h in fourth gear. On the short straight that follows I will continue accelerating up to 300 km/h, moving through the gears before braking hard down to the 80 km/h, second gear right-hander. Again, this is followed almost immediately by a left-hand corner, but I only have to break very lightly, taking it at around 145 km/h in third gear.
"There is no rest after this as I accelerate all the way into the long right-hander with, again, just a very light touch on the brakes as I enter it and I will go through that at around 215 km/h in fourth gear. The next straight is relatively short and I will only reach something over 280 km/h before slowing right down again for a second gear corner, which I take at just under 130 km/h.
"The circuit map then shows a long right-hand corner, but I can actually take all of this flat out and it is here where my body receives the maximum cornering forces at around 265 km/h in fifth gear. I will finally reach around 285 km/h before braking very hard again and dropping down to just over 100 km/h for the next second gear right-hand corner. From here a fast switch into a long left hand corner demands high concentration and I need to be very careful as I enter it at around 180 km/h in third gear and accelerate all the way up to around 300 km/h as I end the section.
"From here there is a fast and very difficult fourth-gear chicane, and I will take both left-hand and right-hand parts at around 210 km/h, before rising back up to 300 km/h. The next corner is a second gear right-hander, the first of two very difficult corners, and I will have to brake very hard, down to second gear at 120 km/h. Between this and the second of the two right-handers a brief acceleration will increase my speed to 230 km/h and I will move up two gears to fourth. I stay in fourth gear for the next part but brake down by 50 km/h as I head for the next tight left-hand corner, for which I accelerate back up to 245 km/h before dropping to second gear for the 80 km/h left-hand corner.
"The final corner, which leads me back onto the pits straight, is taken at around 150 km/h in third gear, and a good exit from this corner is crucial to give me a good speed as I prepare for another lap."
Tyres
In the build up to the race, a storm has brewed up over the design of the four mandatory grooves in the tyres, which Michelin were alleged to have designed as an asymmetrical groove, where the groove's profile was not the usual symmetrical "U" shape (see diagram, below left) and instead used an angled side (below right). That would have provided more support for the tread block and also result in the groove narrowing more rapidly as it wore down.
"The FIA regulations state that each front dry-weather tyre, when new, must have four circumferential grooves which must be arranged symmetrically about the centre of the tyre tread, at least 14mm wide at the contact surface and which taper uniformly to a minimum of 10mm at the lower surface," explains Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport. "When grooved tyres were introduced in 1998, we believed the FIA's intention was for all four grooves to be symmetrical." The FIA and the tyre companies have acted and both suppliers will both attend Melbourne with normal grooves.
Michelin
Now in their second year in F1, Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier concedes that, "We must do better, much better, we no longer have the excuse of not knowing the circuits and we are working with teams whose abilities are well established."
The knowledge Michelin accumulated last year has resulted in a tyre optimised for a long opening stint. "We know that this track changes a lot as the weekend wears on, the experience we gained last year leads us to believe that the best race strategy is to do a very long opening stint. We will bring along new tyres that suit such tactics," Dupasquier added.
As with the cars, the tyres will not be the definitive set up for 2002 due to the testing restrictions. Michelin confirmed the tyres "won't feature all the latest developments we have been working on during the winter break," but were satisfied progress had been made, including on the wet weather tyres, after special wet circuit tests held in January.
Bridgestone
"Our aim has been to arrive in Melbourne and immediately carry on where we left off in Japan in October - by winning races," announced Bridgestone's Director of Motorsport, following an intensive winter tyre test programme, which is still ongoing with the Ferrari test team and Bridgestone indoor test rigs, despite the teams being in transit to Australia. This testing resulted in Bridgestone finding "a compound family that showed improved performance on our tyre which won at Suzuka," according to Hisao Suganuma.
Looking specifically to Melbourne, Bridgestone describe tyre requirements that the smooth surface places on tyres: "In normal circumstances, a softer tyre will provide better grip but in Melbourne if you go too soft you get increased understeer, because of the characteristics of the Albert Park track, the compound has to have a higher grip level as well as good stiffness to help balance the car."
"Starting the lap, I will accelerate up to top gear and a speed of around 310 km/h at the end of the pit straight before braking down to third gear for the first right hand corner, which I take at around 135 km/h.
"That's immediately followed by a left hand corner, making it almost a chicane, although I accelerate all the way through the left-hand part of the corner, apexing at around 200 km/h in fourth gear. On the short straight that follows I will continue accelerating up to 300 km/h, moving through the gears before braking hard down to the 80 km/h, second gear right-hander. Again, this is followed almost immediately by a left-hand corner, but I only have to break very lightly, taking it at around 145 km/h in third gear.
"There is no rest after this as I accelerate all the way into the long right-hander with, again, just a very light touch on the brakes as I enter it and I will go through that at around 215 km/h in fourth gear. The next straight is relatively short and I will only reach something over 280 km/h before slowing right down again for a second gear corner, which I take at just under 130 km/h.
"The circuit map then shows a long right-hand corner, but I can actually take all of this flat out and it is here where my body receives the maximum cornering forces at around 265 km/h in fifth gear. I will finally reach around 285 km/h before braking very hard again and dropping down to just over 100 km/h for the next second gear right-hand corner. From here a fast switch into a long left hand corner demands high concentration and I need to be very careful as I enter it at around 180 km/h in third gear and accelerate all the way up to around 300 km/h as I end the section.
"From here there is a fast and very difficult fourth-gear chicane, and I will take both left-hand and right-hand parts at around 210 km/h, before rising back up to 300 km/h. The next corner is a second gear right-hander, the first of two very difficult corners, and I will have to brake very hard, down to second gear at 120 km/h. Between this and the second of the two right-handers a brief acceleration will increase my speed to 230 km/h and I will move up two gears to fourth. I stay in fourth gear for the next part but brake down by 50 km/h as I head for the next tight left-hand corner, for which I accelerate back up to 245 km/h before dropping to second gear for the 80 km/h left-hand corner.
"The final corner, which leads me back onto the pits straight, is taken at around 150 km/h in third gear, and a good exit from this corner is crucial to give me a good speed as I prepare for another lap."
Tyres
In the build up to the race, a storm has brewed up over the design of the four mandatory grooves in the tyres, which Michelin were alleged to have designed as an asymmetrical groove, where the groove's profile was not the usual symmetrical "U" shape (see diagram, below left) and instead used an angled side (below right). That would have provided more support for the tread block and also result in the groove narrowing more rapidly as it wore down.
"The FIA regulations state that each front dry-weather tyre, when new, must have four circumferential grooves which must be arranged symmetrically about the centre of the tyre tread, at least 14mm wide at the contact surface and which taper uniformly to a minimum of 10mm at the lower surface," explains Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport. "When grooved tyres were introduced in 1998, we believed the FIA's intention was for all four grooves to be symmetrical." The FIA and the tyre companies have acted and both suppliers will both attend Melbourne with normal grooves.
Michelin
Now in their second year in F1, Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier concedes that, "We must do better, much better, we no longer have the excuse of not knowing the circuits and we are working with teams whose abilities are well established."
The knowledge Michelin accumulated last year has resulted in a tyre optimised for a long opening stint. "We know that this track changes a lot as the weekend wears on, the experience we gained last year leads us to believe that the best race strategy is to do a very long opening stint. We will bring along new tyres that suit such tactics," Dupasquier added.
As with the cars, the tyres will not be the definitive set up for 2002 due to the testing restrictions. Michelin confirmed the tyres "won't feature all the latest developments we have been working on during the winter break," but were satisfied progress had been made, including on the wet weather tyres, after special wet circuit tests held in January.
Bridgestone
"Our aim has been to arrive in Melbourne and immediately carry on where we left off in Japan in October - by winning races," announced Bridgestone's Director of Motorsport, following an intensive winter tyre test programme, which is still ongoing with the Ferrari test team and Bridgestone indoor test rigs, despite the teams being in transit to Australia. This testing resulted in Bridgestone finding "a compound family that showed improved performance on our tyre which won at Suzuka," according to Hisao Suganuma.
Looking specifically to Melbourne, Bridgestone describe tyre requirements that the smooth surface places on tyres: "In normal circumstances, a softer tyre will provide better grip but in Melbourne if you go too soft you get increased understeer, because of the characteristics of the Albert Park track, the compound has to have a higher grip level as well as good stiffness to help balance the car."