Formula One faces rethink after tyre selection 'farce'

Formula One can count itself lucky that the accidents which made the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix so exciting for television viewers across the globe did not end with more serious consequences. Those responsible were the team principals, who voted to have only one type of wet tyre per race from each of the tyre suppliers, Bridgestone and Michelin. The latter argued, with some logic, that since torrential rain is the exception rather than the norm, an intermediate tyre would be the best bet. At a drenched Interlagos, however, that plan backfired.

After a wet practice session on Friday morning several drivers tried to get a petition to have that day's qualifying session cancelled. "Everybody thought it was too wet at the beginning," said the Williams-BMW driver Juan Pablo Montoya. "I think we were a bit concerned with the tyres we had that it was going to be recklessly dangerous. I don't know who signed and who didn't, to be honest."

Insiders say that Montoya's team principal, Sir Frank Williams, was the only one to abstain from the single-tyre vote. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari's world champion, suggested a second rain tyre, and said he hoped that team principals were sympathetic to the idea. "I guess after that experience, whoever maybe voted to have only one tyre maybe sees the complication of it and has a different opinion now."

When it rained heavily on race day the grand prix was started behind the safety car, which led the field round for the first eight laps. But Turn 3 remained viciously tricky all afternoon and caught out drivers of the calibre of Schumacher, BAR-Honda's Jenson Button and Montoya.

"I was aquaplaning, and in that situation you are a passenger," Schumacher said. "I caught the standing water a little too much," Button said. "I tried to save it, but that just sent me into the tyre wall."

"Everyone who went off there had the same problem I did," Montoya said. "They were sliding too much because of aquaplaning." The tyre manufacturers disagree on the best way forward. Hisao Suganuma, of Bridgestone, whose tyres had the edge as the track began to dry in the closing stages, said after Friday's wet practice: "If we have heavy rain conditions, drivers on intermediates will struggle. If we have to run in these conditions, we should have at least two types of wet tyre from which to choose."

Pierre Dupasquier, of Michelin, had a different take on the matter. "I believe it is possible to run a single type of rain tyre per grand prix," he said, "and I am very satisfied with the way our products have performed throughout this weekend." Pat Symonds, Renault's executive director of engineering, agreed. "The trouble is that the decision to use only one type of tyre came under the sporting regulations, which meant that it was discussed by the team principals. It should really be a technical matter, to be discussed by the engineers."

Tyres became a contentious issue when Max Mosley, the president of the sport's world governing body, the FIA, introduced grooved tyres for the 1998 season in order to slow cars down.

Symonds does not think that two types of wet tyre should be proposed as a possible change when the team principals meet in Imola on 20 April to discuss potential changes to the 2003 regulations. "I think we should still have just one tyre," he said, "but I think we need a new definition of what a wet tyre is."

An insider at Williams-BMW said: "I think it's a farce that a sport such as Formula One cannot choose the right tyres for such conditions."

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

DRIVERS
1 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 26pts
2 D Coulthard (GB) McLaren 15
3 F Alonso (Sp) Renault 14
4 J Trulli (It) Renault 9
5= G Fisichella (It) Jordan 8
5= J P Montoya (Col) Williams 8
5= R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 8
5= M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 8
9 H-H Frentzen (Ger) Sauber 7
10 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams 6

CONSTRUCTORS
1 McLaren-Mercedes 41pts
2 Renault 23
3 Ferrari 16
4 Williams-BMW 14
5= Jordan-Ford 8
5= Sauber-Petronas 8
7 BAR-Honda 5
8 Jaguar 2