This season has seen Heikki Kovalainen have a sizable accident at the Spanish Grand Prix, the wheel clamp being blamed for the Finn’s impact with the tyre barrier at Circuit de Catalunya. Again, the driver was air-lifted to hospital for checks, although thankfully suffered no injury. And today during the Turkish Grand Prix, both drivers suffered tyre problems that led Bridgestone to insist on the team adopting a three-stop strategy. Although it wasn’t the best way to run the race, Lewis Hamilton was able to safely negotiate his way into second place, and had Heikki Kovalainen not suffered a contact-induced puncture, he too may have finished in a better position, possibly even on the podium with Hamilton.

And with Lewis we had a bit of a structural concern on the tyres which we discovered in practice and we discussed it with Bridgestone and took a decision on safety to run three stops.

There was some internal delamination which Bridgestone were very good at picking up. We didn’t want to have any tyre failure. It was possibly okay to run two stops, but it was a bit more severe on Lewis’ and we put drivers’ safety first. Ron Dennis.

The team have said that the tyre problem they suffered in Istanbul today affected Hamilton’s car more, implying the Finn handles his tyres better. And looking at the two drivers history’s, you’d have to agree. Kovalainen rarely gets mentioned for over-cooking his boots, while Hamilton is more often [than Heikki] in the press for struggling on worn rubber.

This doesn’t mean Hamilton is a poorer driver than his team mate, as the problem could simply be the car. And I seem to remember Fernando Alonso having a couple of grumbles in 2007 about the McLaren and it’s abilities to use the tyres well. However, Kovalainen seems, so far, to be handling the problem better. But shouldn’t McLaren be sorting this out?

Had the silver cars been able to stop only twice in Turkey, their race could have been much stronger. Lewis showed he just about had the pace of the Ferrari’s, both he and Felipe Massa shared fastest laps during one stint. The pace is clearly available for the McLaren’s, but whether or not it is accessible is another question…

Update: Bridgestone have now stated that the problem really lies with Hamilton more than themselves. According to their statement, they had worked on strengthening the tyre over the winter due to problems faced by many drivers at last year’s Turkish Grand Prix. But this weekend has really only seen the problem reoccur on Hamilton’s McLaren. The team have said that Heikki Kovalainen also suffered slightly, implying that it is partly Hamilton and his driving style, and partly the car.

He had a specific problem last year, most noticeably, but several other drivers we noticed had internal tyre problems. Based on that, we changed the construction and strengthened it over the winter period and then brought those tyres to all the races this year.

In actual fact, nobody else has had a repetition of any of those problems this year, with the exception of Lewis. He is the one driver who perhaps with his style of driving has put higher forces onto his front right tyre. Bridgestone Spokesperson.

Original article by BlogF1.

Should McLaren Think About Reinventing The Wheel?

Heikki Update

Heikki Kovalainen had a sizable accident on lap 22 of yesterday’s race at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. The Finn appeared to suffer some kind of wheel/tyre failure and left the track at approximately 140mph. Slamming in the tyre barrier almost head on, it is now clear why the marshals who attended the scene looked so concerned on initial arrival. Kovalainen was briefly knocked unconscious following the accident, although a CT scan has ruled out any head injury other than a concussion.

The team is optimistic that he will make a full recovery over the next few days. Ron Dennis.

It was initially suggested a stone may have become lodged between the wheel rim and the tyre, causing the failure on the MP4-23’s front-left boot. Dennis has since stated that it looks likely to have been a rare wheel failure, but as of yet there is no absolute answer to what caused the incident.

As the above photographs show, Heikki was lucky to escape with only a concussion. His car went very deep into the tyre barrier and the front-end was pretty much destroyed by the brunt of the impact; much credit is deserved to the strength of modern-day Formula One cars.

Eastern Creek Is Evaluated

The Australian Grand Prix has a contract in place to run the race at Albert Park up until the end of the 2010 season. However, Bernie Ecclestone is insisting on a night-race for the event, allowing Europeans to awake at a regular hour to watch the event live. Albert Park organisers are not keen on a night-race though, citing the massive costs as unreasonable.

But wanting to ensure Australia remains on the global motor sport calendar, Sydney’s Eastern Creek circuit may be able to help out. The circuit was built in 1990 and hosts an A1GP event as well as V8 Supercars and Superbike races. The circuit will require some modifications though to bring it up to Formula One standards, which is why a feasibility study has been announced.

Strong competition from emerging nations to secure major motorsport events threaten to marginalise Australia, with a resulting loss in status and tourism potential.

The impending closure of Oran Park Raceway in Sydney’s south-west will leave the Sydney basin with only Eastern Creek Raceway, and its use is already at near full capacity. John Cotter, President Australian Racing Drivers’ Club.

Coulthard Moans About Moaning

David Coulthard and Timo Glock have escaped penalty following their on-track skirmish yesterday. The incident at T5 forced Glock to pit for a new nose, and Coulthard had to come in for a new wheel to replace his punctured tyre. However, speaking afterwards to the media, David expressed his displeasure at the incident but took time to offer explanation and defend his actions.

I think I’ve said enough, haven’t I? In my last column I did the whole thing on how I wish people would know that my eyes face out front, they don’t face back. What you see on the video footage is not what I see in the car.

You make a commitment and what I do is make it clear whether I am moving out of the way or taking an early line. It seems to have worked through most of my career, so I don’t know what has gone wrong this year.

There will be all this stuff about my age and the oldest driver getting involved in all the incidents, which you can fuel the flames or not, but I don’t know what I can do. Should I just drive off the circuit and let all these people by? David Coulthard.

Coulthard went on to explain that for most of the race he wasn’t with Glock, but as team mate Mark Webber was in a more commanding position, he was allowed to take priority in the pit stops, which slightly delayed Coulthard and allowed Glock to catch up towards the end of the race.

It seems Coulthard is getting frustrated by the amount of incidents he has been involved in this season, this being his third. David retired from the Australian Grand Prix after contact with Felipe Massa, and at Bahrain he had a coming-together with Jenson Button. The Button incident was, in my opinion, not entirely Coulthard’s fault, but it is interesting to note that each of these crashes have occurred when a driver has attempted to overtake the Red Bull on the inside line into a corner.

It is unbelievably difficult to overtake. You lose so much downforce following the other cars, and I think there is an element of that… David Coulthard.

However, Coulthard’s finest quote from this incident:

It is terrible, but who is interested in hearing about me complaining about people running into me? David Coulthard.

I could harp on about SpecSavers, but that would be unfair. Coulthard is too experienced to make errors like these and while he can be a little tempestuous at times, the Scot is also aware that in order to finish first, first you must finish. It was briefly discussed in yesterday’s LiveBlog of the race that the mirrors are not helping drivers this year. It seems that in order to make the cars more aerodynamically efficient, the devices that are so essential in seeing what’s behind you are being neglected.

The mirrors on Formula One car’s were never all that great, but moving them away from the drivers vision, combined with added vibration from the engines which is made worse by their positioning leads me to think that this, combined with Coulthard’s suggestion of a lack of downforce, is causing some of these on-track altercations.

Original article by BlogF1.

News Round-up: Heikki, Sydney & A Great Line From Coulthard