Mr. Yasukawa talks with Mr. Charlie Whiting18/06/2009
Mr. Charlie Whiting (CW), FIA Race Director and Safety Delegate, as well as the Official Starter of Formula One Grands Prix, joins Mr. Yasukawa (HY) in the next in his series of behind the scenes features in conjunction with F1 journalist Kunihiko Akai (KA).
Mr. Whiting started his Formula One career at Hesketh Racing after graduating from school before then working for Surtees and becoming a chief mechanic of the Brabham Team, where he stayed for ten years. He joined the FIA in the position of Technical Delegate for Formula One in 1988, before being appointed to his current positions in 1997. He is the head of the FIA Formula One Technical Department.
KA: Mr. Whiting, could you please tell us a little about your background?
CW: I worked for Hesketh Racing, Surtees and Brabham - all Formula One teams at the time. I then joined the FIA and started working for Formula One in 1976.
HY: I started working for Bridgestone’s motorsport department in 1976, the same year that you started your Formula One career. Bridgestone then was a smaller tyre company in Asia, ranked 8th or 9th in the world. My dream was to participate in Bridgestone’s name in Formula One in the future. In 1977, a Formula One Grand Prix was held in Japan and Bridgestone provided tyres to Kazuyoshi Hoshino’s Tyrrell car of Heros Racing. He ran in third place for a while during the race but unfortunately was forced to retire due to a lack of spare wheels in the pit. We had lots of tyres though. We went to Europe after the Japanese Grand Prix and gained some experience in Formula 2, DTM, Le Mans, Indy, and so on. And finally in 1997 we reached Formula One.
KA: Mr. Whiting, so you were already working for the FIA when Bridgestone started its participation in Formula One?
CW: Yes. Goodyear provided tyres to Formula One at that time but all parties involved in Formula One were so delighted to have Bridgestone in the sport. What was important for us was the fact that Bridgestone took interest in Formula One. A so-called tyre war started after Bridgestone’s participation and I personally realised that lap times would decrease dramatically when tyres were set up properly. Up until then much of the focus had been on aerodynamic aspects for many years but it did not improve lap times dramatically.
HY: We were very happy to be able to participate in Formula One too. That was because the FIA accepted and appreciated our activities, with particular thanks to Mr. Whiting for fully understanding our activities in terms of expenses, safety, environmental issues and so on. When there were other tyre manufacturers we had so-called tyre wars and the leading teams’ test running distance reached more than 70,000 kilometers. But as we became a sole supplier, these distances were reduced to about 30,000 kilometers and some restrictions were imposed on test days and test tyre quantities. It helped reduce the teams’ hard work and costs, and was better for the environment too.
KA: That said, I suppose a tyre war could make racing healthy.
CW: Well, I do not agree with you on that point. I don’t think competition is necessary in terms of tyres. Teams want to compete, that’s for sure, but as you can tell from the current situation, Bridgestone provides excellent tyres and works for every team equally and fairly. They make best their efforts to provide tyres with consistent performances, and they stick to fairness. Our satisfaction with the current situation represents our appreciation for their approaches toward Formula One races.
KA: Your point may be correct but can we say Bridgestone has learned a lot from its competitions against Goodyear and Michelin?
HY: We can look at that from two different standpoints. One is that competition is essential when we think of technological advancement. Another is that when you think of the current economic recession, environmental issues, and fair treatment of teams, sole tyre status works efficiently to cope with such issues.
CW: I agree with you, Mr. Yasukawa. What Mr. Yasukawa points out is not directly related to technologies, but in terms of technology I believe the situation would be the same, regardless of whether one or more tyre manufacturers might be involved. We cannot talk about tyres without considering technological aspects.
KA: With regards to the economical recession you have mentioned, cost cutting has been carried out in many areas and Bridgestone understands this point properly.
CW: You are right. You need to make efforts to overcome difficulties in hard times. Currently we ban tests during the season and limit total test running distances up to 15,000 kilometers. Of course modifications and introductions of rules will be required in the future as well. We must not put the blame on motor races.
HY: Teams agree with us too. The FIA and Bridgestone have been working on cost cutting for about three years now. Everybody has been talking about that topic lately but it is not a new idea for us. In addition to that Bridgestone has not focused on race victories only. We have spearheaded safety campaigns using our motorsport activities, campaigns such as MAKE CARS GREEN. That is the point. Many say motorsport just wastes a lot of money but it is not true. We carry out diverse social activities through motorsport as well.
KA: That is true. We can send out many messages through motor sport.
HY: For example, straying from the topic of tyres a little, a race engine is quite efficient. A current Formula One 2.4 litre engine produces approximately 800 horsepower. This has been achieved with cutting-edge fuel combustion technology. This technology works to improve consumer vehicles’ fuel efficiencies too.
CW: We hope things will work that way. An engine with large horsepower production works amazingly efficiently. Better fuel efficiency allows cars to run for longer with less fuel. It makes cars lighter and faster. It is quite simple logic.
KA: Technological development based on motorsport should be introduced more widely to the world.
HY: That’s right. Excellent technologies have variable advantages. I would like to emphasize again the fact that we can work more for environmental and safety issues through motorsport.
CW: Formula One progresses steadily in terms of safety. At the FIA Institute studies are carried out about safety issues surrounding races as well as race cars. We carry out crash tests by ourselves, and inspect movement of G forces. Studies of compatibility and force movement tendencies are important factors in terms of physics as well and will be transferable to consumer vehicles.
KA: Currently Formula One race results seem to be decided by tyres. How do you see this situation?
CW: It is not only the current case that race results are decided by tyres. Tyres were decisive factors in the past races too, and such trends were more evident when two tyre manufacturers participated in Formula One. In 2005, for example, it was our understanding that Bridgestone and Michelin fought fiercely and race results were decided mainly by tyres. Under the current sole tyre status, despite Bridgestone providing the same specifications of tyres to all teams, there are still many people talking about tyres. They talk about compounds, green lines, etc., and still take great interest in tyres. I think this is just wonderful.
HY: I am very happy to hear you say so.
KA: Some say Formula One race results should be more focused on the capabilities and skills of the drivers. What do you think of that opinion?
CW: I think it is a personal opinion. I agree with that view personally, aside from being FIA staff. That is why they have been focused on providing the same fittings to all competitors. However, even when drivers compete with completely the same fittings, it makes great differences. I would say that is a gap of capabilities and skills between drivers.
KA: My last question is about the current situations in Formula one. New regulations have been introduced this season and we saw the return of slicks. What are your views so far after having seen the opening races?
CW: I suppose many people are satisfied to see the start of the season which is much more exciting than expected. However, we saw some races have been affected by bad weather so it is too early to talk about the new regulations specifically. But we can say that the new regulations are working out successfully as we have seen some emerging teams competing strongly and winning races. But the big names could strike back soon so I cannot predict how things will turn out mid-season.
HY: From our point of view as a tyre manufacturer, this season provides us with a new challenge with newly developed slick tyre technologies. So we are very excited.
CW: The competition with two (dry) specifications with a certain performance gap has brought very exciting results. In the season’s opening race in Australia, for example, many of the drivers tried very hard to make the most of super soft tyres and competed quite closely in the closing stages of the race. We would like to thank Bridgestone for having done an excellent job. New regulations have been introduced in order to make races more fun and exciting and the success of this introduction has been achieved by the efforts of Bridgestone. So I would like to thank them especially for their efforts. In the situation where many say single tyre status would make racing dull, this result is just marvelous. We must admit tyres are still decisive factors in the race results.
KA: Do you expect participation of any additional tyre manufacturers in the future as a competitor to Bridgestone?
CW: I see the current situation is the best of all. Nothing needs to be changed.
HY: It is our understanding that what we have tried hard so far brought these fruitful results. We are very proud of the current situation which was accomplished with the support from all of the people involved.
To hear further insights from Mr. Yasukawa, please read the following articles:
Bridgestone in motorsport 2009
Life in MotoGP
Importance of MotoGP rider feedback
Developing Formula One technology
Formula One benefits for the brand
Logistics and Formula One
Motorsport and the Spanish market
Importance of Motorsport in North America
