Formula one drivers are worried Korea could this weekend host some of the worst tyre degradation of the season.
“We will definitely stop more than twice (in the race),” McLaren’s Jenson Button is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Pirelli’s decision to bring its softest tyres to Korea, a rarely-used circuit whose surface was visibly dirty on Thursday and then watered by Friday morning’s rain, has raised eyebrows within the paddock.

“It will be interesting to see how they work,” said McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa, who recalled 2010 when even the Bridgestone tyres grained.

Added Button: “Some (drivers) may need to stop five times and then if something goes wrong, your supply of tyres runs out.”

“We will see high levels of tyre degradation,” Ferrari’s Felipe Massa is quoted by La Repubblica. “It will be a tough race with the soft and super soft tyres, not only for us but for everyone.”

Sebastian Vettel said the situation “will be worsened” further with the Friday rain. Rubens Barrichello said F1 learned last year that rain in Korea leads to mud sliding onto the track.

“All the preparation for the race may have to take place on Saturday morning,” predicted McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

Mark Webber is hoping to turn his season around with a back-to-back Barcelona win this weekend.

The Australian won the Spain-Monaco double header a year ago and on Friday morning at the Circuit de Catalunya got off to a fast start by lapping clearly quicker than any rival.

“Seems to be a good circuit for me, yeah,” he confirmed.

Webber, 34, has had to witness his teammate Sebastian Vettel roar into a clear championship lead in 2011 and himself finish fifth, fourth, third and second in the opening four races of the season.

“I will try to keep that going and have a clean weekend and try to go one step further than the last few races and do what I did last year,” he said in Spain.

Red Bull designer Adrian Newey said this week that Vettel has adapted better to life on Pirelli tyres this year, and Webber agrees.

“What’s absolutely clear is that we were very, very, very even on the Bridgestone tyres, and it’s not quite like that on the Pirellis so far, particularly on new tyres,” said the Australian.

“That’s not an excuse, I’m just answering your question. That’s the only thing that’s changed. Seb’s doing a good job and clearly it’s up to me to do better.”

Michael Schumacher does not feature in an authoritative magazine’s ranking of the top 50 racing drivers of 2010.

The editor of the British print magazine Autosport, often described as the ‘bible’ for motor sport fans, said the seven time world champion missed the cut because he “wasn’t very good” on his return to formula one this year.

Drivers for all major motor racing series around the world are eligible for the top 50.

“If there had been just one race where you thought Schumacher was exceptional that may well have been enough to get him into the top 50,” said editor Andrew van de Burgt. “But I can’t think of that one performance.

“Coupled with that, his comeback was easily the most hyped and eagerly anticipated I can remember. The expectations were so great and the results so disappointing.”

The editor dismissed Schumacher’s argument that this year’s Bridgestone tyres did not suit his driving style.

“The tyres are the same for everyone and a driver who has won 91 grands prix and seven world championships has got to adapt,” he insisted.

Schumacher’s Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who is 16 years younger than Schumacher and has never won a race, was ranked 12th in the 2010 Autosport ‘Best Of’ driver ranking.

“Rosberg more than had the measure of Schumacher,” said van de Burgt. “And what we have seen in the past suggests Rosberg is a very good driver but maybe not a great one.

“So to be so comprehensively beaten by him didn’t really show Schumacher in a great light.”

He admitted that the 41-year-old German showed “a few little hints” of promise at the end of the season, but for the top 50 it was “close but no cigar”.

Gary Paffett on Friday said F1′s new Pirelli tyre is “not too different” from the product supplied in 2010 by the now departed Bridgestone.

At Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit, the two-day Pirelli test began, with teams and race drivers including new world champion Sebastian Vettel getting their first taste of the sport’s new rubber.

At the end of the day, the best time was Felipe Massa’s 1.40.1 — a significant feat for the Brazilian after struggling with the Bridgestone tyre this year.

Indeed, Renault chief engineer Alan Permane reported that the Pirelli’s had suffered from “no warm-up issues”, which had been a significant problem for drivers including Massa in 2010.

Vettel was also in the 1.40s on Friday.

That is about 2 seconds slower than Daniel Ricciardo’s Bridgestone-shod time set in the Red Bull earlier this week, although it must be noted that most teams were also running with the new mandatory weight distribution setup for 2011.

“The tyres seem to be working well and not too different from Bridgestone, so a good start,” said Gary Paffett, who has tested the 2010 McLaren with both Pirelli and Bridgestone tyres this week.

Michael Schumacher has admitted that age may be a factor in his struggle to get back up to speed after returning to formula one this year.

To date, having returned with Mercedes in 2010 following a three year retirement, the seven time world champion has explained his lack of results as due mainly to technical factors, including today’s Bridgestone tyres and the characteristics of the W01 car.

But the German is now quoted by News of the World: “At the end of the day there are physics.  How can a 41-year-old be as good as a top-level 23 or 24-year-old?

“I have experience and a high level of speed, but if it is the same as at my high periods in Ferrari I don’t think we will ever know,” added Schumacher.

“At Ferrari I had been working for ten years to make that level.  This time I have been with a whole new team just for one year.”

Schumacher, having won a record 91 grand prix victories between 1992 and 2006, has not appeared on the podium so far in 2010, and is 58 points behind his 25-year-old teammate Nico Rosberg.

Mercedes’ problem in 2010 is not the tyres but the team’s simulation techniques, according to Niki Lauda.

It has been said the German team is puzzled by the current Bridgestone tyres and how they interact with the W01, the successor of last year’s championship winning Brawn.

But former triple world champion Lauda thinks the real problem is the new era of reduced track testing and the alternate need to rely on computers and simulators.

“All the teams complain about the tyres but it’s the same problem for all of them,” Lauda is quoted by Bild newspaper.

“The problem with Mercedes is the movement between their simulations and reality. Who is the best in this area wins, and they are McLaren and Red Bull.”

At Silverstone on Wednesday, Michael Schumacher delivered the unsurprising verdict that, with a 93 point deficit in the championship, he is not going to win an eighth title in 2010.

“We try to learn as much as we can and prepare for next year. That’s what I’m fully motivated towards,” said the German.

But some wonder how the winner of 91 grands prix and hundreds of millions of euros in salaries and sponsorships can possibly prolong a middling return to his chosen sport.

“I have known Michael a long time. You would think I’d know if he were about to chuck it in,” team boss Ross Brawn told the Telegraph.

The Briton said Schumacher is taking a different approach to his earlier ruthless determination to win races and titles with Benetton and Ferrari.

“He is more interested in the whole Mercedes project,” said Brawn.

“He takes a greater interest in the wider aspects of what we are trying to do and is not simply concerned with what happens on the track. He is enjoying his return more than people think.”

Jun.13 (GMM) Forecast rain in Montreal on Sunday is expected to stay away until after the Canadian grand prix.

Very early in the morning in the Canadian city, the skies are cloudy but so far not dropping any rain on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

In fact, Sunday’s should be the warmest afternoon seen for several days in Montreal, which is good news for the performance of the Bridgestone tyres.

The race, beginning at 12pm local time, will be staged over 70 laps.

Two touted contenders for victory in Sunday’s Turkish grand prix had a troubled afternoon practice session at Istanbul Park.

Frustrated Barcelona/Monaco winner and joint championship leader Mark Webber, although second fastest behind Jenson Button, suffered what is suspected to be a failed engine failure.

After skilfully reversing his Red Bull through a gap in the fence, the Australian then amusingly lost his temper with Turkish marshals who could not decipher his desire for a fire extinguisher to be used to chock the wheel.

2006-2008 Istanbul winner Felipe Massa, meanwhile, had the canvas showing on a set of his soft Bridgestone tyres after spinning sideways in the challenging Turn 8.

(GMM)

It is this year’s generation of Bridgestone tyres that is helping Mark Webber to be so competitive at the wheel of the Red Bull.

The Australian commandingly won the past two grands prix from pole position, causing experts to wonder how his highly rated teammate Sebastian Vettel is being momentarily put in the shade.

The latest issue of Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport magazine quotes Webber, 33, as admitting that he is enjoying the narrower and more durable 2010 tyres provided by sole supplier Bridgestone.

“The new generation of tyres better suit my driving style,” he confirmed.

“The fronts do not bite as extremely and the rears have better lateral stability. Sebastian prefers it the other way around,” added Webber.

Vettel said: “You can’t get as much out of these tyres than before. They have a lower limit.”

Like Vettel, Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher have been struggling with the 2010 tyres.

Only with the softest compounds, as were used in Bahrain and Monaco, can Massa cope with the pace of his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso.

“I have been having trouble getting the harder tyres to work,” the Brazilian said. “With the softer ones I have the grip that I need from the first lap.”

(GMM)