This week's Grapevine brings you
information fresh from the paddock on:
McLaren’s Michelin Move
Despite Michelin's performance on their first year back in Formula One, there was some surprise that McLaren have moved across to the French manufacturer, when their biggest rival continues to run on Bridgestone tyres – particularly considering their apparent involvement in the way the rubber was developed. However, all is not as it was in '98, and it became clear to McLaren that, at least, they have little to lose by making this move now.
Back at the end of '97, towards the end of Bridgestone's first year in the sport, McLaren made a bold decision to go with the new rubber for the next season. As the first front-running team to take on the Japanese company, they were able to negotiate a very favourable contract, which essentially gave them full discretion over the direction the tyres were developed. As the season bore on, this became a critical factor, as they became, effectively, the only works team on Bridgestone tyres: Benetton at least complained bitterly, stating their season was ruined by sudden decisions to delay the tyre width change, when McLaren found an alternative that suited them better in the short term. However, the departure of Goodyear brought Ferrari in to the fold, on what amounted to the same deal as McLaren. Neither team, really, had an advantage, though there were plenty of rumours that Ferrari had managed to pull a fast one somehow…
However, the change this time is made under very different circumstances. McLaren have struggled to match Ferrari, and with Williams coming on strong, they are now coming to terms with their new situation. The McLaren engine is no longer top of the pile; at least one of their drivers had gone off the boil, and they were, frankly, failing to match Ferrari on the same rubber.
Attempts to negotiate a more favourable contract with Bridgestone proved difficult. The tyre manufacturer was committed to supplying Ferrari on their current contract for at least another year, and they could not offer any more input into the development process. Indeed, it appears that any new contract which is not a direct extension would have been problematic: the inference being that all new Bridgestone contracts require signees to take on an implicit requirement to defer to Ferrari, should there be a conflict in the preferred direction development should take. Clearly, this is not something that appealed!
The Michelin contract doesn't offer much more, or at least, not at the outset. Williams, having not only taken the plunge from the outset, but also delivered race wins on Michelin's return to the fold, have preferred status. Should their requirements from Michelin rubber differ from McLaren's, there is no doubt that the tyre manufacturer, given no choice, will go the Williams route. However, there are some differences.
Something which was key to McLaren's requirements, and supposedly the deciding factor on any decision to move over, was a "requirement to disclose" clause. This essentially gives McLaren access to any tyre specific data generated in official tyre trials by other Michelin runners. This is something that Bridgestone apparently could not offer: Ferrari's trials of the new intermediate tyre in 2000 demonstrated its amazing edge, allowing Schumacher to stay out far longer than his rivals on a drying track at Indianapolis. McLaren's strategy was definitely impacted by their lack of knowledge of the new tyre – they had been testing new Bridgestone ‘slicks' whilst Ferrari flooded Mugello to test the intermediates.
Regarding testing tyres themselves, McLaren have been promised access to development rubber whenever they can find time to run trials. Michelin are keen to have the feedback of another front running team to continue driving development forward, which immediately offers McLaren a solid position in the program.
Finally, though the story varies according to who is doing the telling, going forward, McLaren will be able to drive the direction of development on a merit basis: from 2003 onwards, if they are the top Michelin runner, then they will have the biggest input into the development program.
Given all that, the question of moving was, really, only a question of when?
We are barely into the off-season, and the hype for next year has been kicked off big time – by one of the usual mainstream players.
In Sergio Rinland, Arrows have secured the very able services of the man who designed Sauber's successful C20. Using a Ferrari engine, the package was good for a fairly solid – and very respectable – fourth place in the Championship. And given the woes at Prost, who had the same power plant, it's clear that Rinland is capable of putting together a very solid chassis. Of course, his appointment did not come early enough to really get behind Arrows' 2002 design, but he is expected to be making a significant impact before the season begins, and ensure the car develops in the right direction through the season.
And now that Arrows have secured Cosworth engines, Rinland is making very public statements about being "the best of the rest," potentially running ahead of Sauber next year.
Of course, good though the Cosworth engine is, it's not really expected to noticeably outperform Sauber's year-old Ferrari unit. Similarly, even if Rinland could design the car from the ground up, as he did the C20, it would still be a season of development behind the Sauber chassis in outright performance terms – so in reality, Arrows are likely to struggle to match Sauber at the start of the season. Also, between them, at least one of BAR and Jordan can be expected to put together a chassis that will make the most of Honda's next engine… and Benetton certainly ended the season on an up-note, so predictions of fighting on an even keel appear to be optimistic, even before the holiday season has ended.
Then again, at this stage, next year's performance is not what it is about. This is the time of year when the minnows, who are struggling to put together a big enough budget to design and race their cars, let alone test them, get to take their place to the fore. Between now and January, big promises can attract big sponsors – or keep on the disillusioned sponsor who is about to be poached by another team. Later on, if things are desperate, teams will, notoriously, do almost anything to post impressive test times, still looking to fill in the gaps on the balance sheet.
The funny thing is, this time last year, Arrows promised much the same sort of improvement. It resulted in Repsol looking to change their agreement, opting to pay out for each championship point scored rather than an absolute sum, essentially calling the Arrows bluff. Everything went pear shaped at that point: Repsol declined to renew under the old terms, and Arrows let "their" man Pedro de la Rosa go. Then again, it paved the way for Enrique Bernoldi to introduce Red Bull sponsorship to the team, and look where that’s heading, with Mateschitz apparently moving his millions from Sauber to Arrows…
Which only goes to show, really: the hype really does pay.
Off-season Hype Takes Off