Williams Tyre/Rim issues

Unforgiven · Post by **Unforgiven** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:02 pm

Has anyone heard anything more about the tyre issues that Williams were having last night?

As I saw the 4 incidents it seemed as though the tyre seperated from the rim resulting in a 100% pressure drop in about 1 second (didnt look like your regular puncture because the tyre stayed in tact). Seemed a bit strange from my end of the telly to see something as wierd as that to happen in this day an age of Formula 1.

matticooper · Post by **matticooper** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:24 pm

Yeah I watched the racing last night (paying for it today) andd must admit it was a strange one. They were blaming it on curbs at 1st, but when it was only happening to Team Willy I think it'd be fairly safe to say it was something on the car. Be suspicious, I'd look at the rim itself, but also they were running a new type of braking system on the wheels - so who knows.

One other thought that hit me this morning was the "constant loading" thing. We all know of the fiasco that was Indy, but if memory serves me correct, wasn't it only the Toyotas that run into trouble at Indy (memory has since struggled the rest of the day). I think it could be a combination thing but they certainly looked a bit silly out there. And to think, Marky was having a real go too... oh well...

Nigel · Post by **Nigel** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:24 pm

Remember also that (and here I steal matticooper's line) "team willy" is running more downforce than the other cars, so they might have got the problem through loading when other escaped. Just a though.

matticooper · Post by **matticooper** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:34 pm

fourthof5 wrote:Remember also that (and here I steal matticooper's line) "team willy" is running more downforce than the other cars, so they might have got the problem through loading when other escaped. Just a though.

Yeah.. kinda what I meant in the 2ns para... but yep.. spot on too. They were 10kph down in the speed traps all night. by the way - matti is fine guys....

hankstar · Post by **hankstar** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 4:37 pm

Pity. Maybe we could've seen MW take some points home. Barring any unforced errors of course. He was lucky he and Schuey weren't written off in that little shunt.

w00dsy · Post by **w00dsy** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:10 pm

It's BMW's fault.

Nigel · Post by **Nigel** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:21 pm

Just realised. Its a pitty marks first name isn't Barry.

w00dsy · Post by **w00dsy** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:27 pm

Barry Webber? WTF? Pottsy would have been better.

Sarsippius · Post by **Sarsippius** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 5:54 pm

The other thing the commentators mentioned is that being a new track the level of grip was constantly increasing as rubber was laid down. That would explain why they didn't have any probs till the race as the loads would've been slowly increasing throughout the weekend.

Nigel · Post by **Nigel** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 6:36 pm

w00dsy wrote:Barry Webber? WTF? Pottsy would have been better.

Barry Mark Webber

BMW.

Post by **Bauer** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:19 pm

matticooper wrote: by the way - matti is fine guys....

glad to see we are on a first name basis here but Ill stick to what Pete calls you behind your back. White Knuckle Loser I think it is.

w00dsy · Post by **w00dsy** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:29 pm

Sarsippius wrote:The other thing the commentators mentioned is that being a new track the level of grip was constantly increasing as rubber was laid down. That would explain why they didn't have any probs till the race as the loads would've been slowly increasing throughout the weekend.

Fastest laps
Qual = K. RÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¤ikkÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¶nen - 1:26.797
Race = J. P. Montoya - 1:24.770

Webber was 1.2 faster in the race than qual.

r8response · Post by **r8response** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:38 pm

lets just put it all down to, williams making a complete POS car, that is uncompetitive. and when it is, it's mainly down to webber and heidfeld having to wring the neck out of it

matticooper · Post by **matticooper** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:00 am

Bauer wrote:
matticooper wrote: by the way - matti is fine guys....
glad to see we are on a first name basis here but Ill stick to what Pete calls you behind your back. White Knuckle Loser I think it is.

Stu, Bauer, 1594... you can kiss my ARSE

I'll even let you do it at Christmas time....

Montey · Post by **Montey** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 12:52 pm

The latest I have read is that Michellin are blaming the car, stating that no other team experienced the issues.

My thoughts.... given that it did appear to be a rim seperation issue, not a cut or otherwise damaged tyre issue, I would be inclined to look into the loading issues around the tyre.

With Williams running more downforce due to a bad aero package, with the curbs pounding on the tyres and with the surface gaining most of its grip during the race itself there is a lot to suggest that the latteral loads on the tyres would have been changing a lot through the weekend. Especially through the quad-apex turn 8 with a continuous sweep to the left. The latteral g-forces through this corner would have been huge.

As a result of all of this loading the tyre probably had an unusually, out of specification, level of deformation essentially ripping the tyre from the rim.

I think the major reasons other teams may not have experienced the issues are their drivers may have been instructed to keep off the curbs, and that they were not running as much downforce on the rear wing.

... on a side note... did anyone see the funky tri-plane front wings on the Mclarens and the Ferrari's?

Post by **norbs** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:01 pm

fourthof5 wrote:
w00dsy wrote:Barry Webber? WTF? Pottsy would have been better.
Barry Mark Webber

BMW.

What about Barry Bobby Quincy Webber, then on the school roll he would have been Webber, BBQ!

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 5:57 pm

the tri-pane wings looked really good in my opinion!

Mercs have had them for ages though so I was surprised that ferrari just got them going now, unless their car balance was gonna go haywire...