Feb.11 (GMM) Official F1 tyre supplier Bridgestone may now have settled on how to differentiate its compounds of dry-weather slick tyres in 2009
Last year, the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ compounds on offer at grands prix were differentiated by painting the inside of one of the four grooves white, so that the type of tyre being used by a driver on the circuit is visibly apparent to spectators
With the return this season of slick tyres, however, the Japanese manufacturer has been contemplating what method to use in 2009 and beyond
It was speculated that full coloured sidewalls were considered, and various other methods have previously been tested, including different coloured rings – including white and purple – on the sidewalls
But perhaps the best solution so far, which with just over 40 days to go until Melbourne must surely be the frontrunner, was in evidence as five teams on Wednesday circulated at the Spanish test circuit in Jerez de la Frontera
As seen on the cars of Nelson Piquet (Renault) and Kazuki Nakajima (Williams), the solution involves the use of thin green painted lines circling both the inner and outer sidewalls on the front tyres, and the inner sidewalls on the rear
The effectiveness of the solution was apparent when the colours could easily be distinguished both when viewing the cars from the side as well as from the rear
Also spotted trackside at Jerez on Wednesday were Red Bull’s Dietrich Mateschitz, his business partner and friend Gerhard Berger, and team advisor David Coulthard, as Mark Webber seemed to enjoy a trouble-free return from injury at the wheel of the new RB5
