F1: Teams concur on tyre strategy

[Rory Phoulorie]

As Pat Symonds suggested on the eve of the opening round, the majority of teams and drivers came to the same conclusion when making their decision on tyre strategy for the Australian Grand Prix.

Bridgestone's new position as sole tyre supplier to the top flight has seen the introduction of a range of compounds for the entire season, with no provision for teams to develop rubber specifically for their own cars. Moreover, each driver is required to use both compounds taken to each grand prix at some point in the race, although Symonds suggested that this decision would quickly become unified.

"Using two types of tyre during the race is not a huge change," he said in his Melbourne preview, "The impact will vary from weekend to weekend, and its severity will depend on whether or not the softer tyre is marginal on the circuit in question, or in the prevailing conditions. Just as with any other strategic factor, though, there will be an optimum way to run the race � and most of the teams will arrive at that optimum point pretty quickly."

The list of strategies published by Bridgestone in the wake of the opening round proved that Symonds was not far from the mark, with only three drivers opting to use the softer option tyres in their first stint, and few choosing it for the middle of the race.

While Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa could be appreciated for deciding to run the option early on as they attempted to make up ground from lowly grid positions, Nick Heidfeld was the first to admit that his decision to run it from third at the start backfired as he dropped back down the order after having to make an early pit-stop.

"My strategy to take the softer tyres first was riskier, as I knew that, after the first stop, there was the danger of getting stuck in traffic - and this is what happened," the German confirmed.

Massa's second decision, to run a one-stop strategy bas he attempted to score points from plumb last on the grid, also meant that he had to run half the race on the softer tyre, but paid off as he recovered to sixth by the flag.

The majority of the field, however, opted to use the harder 'medium' compound from the lights, with many then choosing to replace like with like for the second stint, leaving the softer rubber for a short sprint to the flag. The only drawback to that plan, as both Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso revealed after the race, was that, with positions more or less decided and drivers being told to conserve their cars, the teams learned little about the durability of the rubber.

While some drivers did not get to use their full quota of rubber - notably Christijan Albers, Scott Speed and Robert Kubica - only a few opted for a 'soft option sandwich', running the less durable compound mid-race, although Jenson Button - and the retired Alex Wurz - went down that route.

Bridgestone complied with the requirement to make the two tyre options discernible to those watching by marking the soft compound rubber with a solid white spot.

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