After the race at Silverstone, some drivers complained about the performance of the tires. The most noticeable case was that of Bagnaia, who ended up on the edge of the points, but Valentino Rossi and Mir also complained about the tires. Piero Taramasso, head of Michelin, explained what went wrong in England, not without analyzing the first data.
“In general we noticed higher tire usage both front and rear compared to the training sessions on Friday and Saturday, which resulted in a decrease in tire performance – he told us – We had predicted that there would have been a decline after ten laps, but it came much earlier, for some drivers after five. “
A lot can go wrong in these cases.
“Silverstone is a track that puts a lot of stress on the tires. Being constancy has always been a challenge on this route, ”he continued. We haven’t been there for two years and brought back the new carcass introduced last season for the rear that we had never tried there before. We only encountered this heavy and sometimes irregular wear with a few riders, but it was not related to the type of bicycle, in fact there were six different manufacturers in the first six places “.
Taramasso does not deny the situation, he knows that there are some points that can and must be improved.
“It is clear that we have to improve to anticipate what can happen in the race – he admitted – I am talking about different aspects: When there is a change in temperature, when the pace becomes faster or slower, what are the consequences if you change one of the two tires on the grid. In order to achieve all of this, we have to work better, especially in the FP4 with a full gas tank and as many consecutive laps as possible. I know it’s not easy, because times are short, but we have ideas to improve this aspect and avoid wrong decisions.
Meanwhile, Michelin technicians are working to understand exactly what happened to some drivers’ tires.
“We will continue to investigate specific cases to understand the causes, there are many aspects that we can analyze, and the teams help us by providing us with their data. In this way, we can give the drivers who ask us for explanations answers based on objective data, ”he promised.
The Italian manager also knows that the paddock is full of urban legends that he wants to drive away.
“When there are situations like this, people’s fantasies are unleashed – he smiled – For example, they say that Quartararo these things never happen because he is French, but It is impossible to disadvantage or disadvantage a driver, the tires are awarded by lot. It is not even true that the budget has been cut and we are saving money, luckily our company has coped very well with the plight caused by Covid and is in excellent health. On the contrary, we have all the technology available to investigate what happened.