Pardon me for the long title but there was a lot to say.
I'm sure that by this stage we've all read about Schumi's "Raw Eggs" analogy for the Pirelli tyres: The basis of which was that the tyres themselves were influencing the racing far too much and taking away from the actual ability of the cars.
Ross Brawn said "We can't modify the setup between qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday and they are very different challenges, especially with this year's tyres". Basically accepting that the tyres are the most important component in achieving a good result and that you might have to sacrifice grid position in order to have the best choice of tyres on race day.
This is strategy rather than racing in my humble opinion, and while strategy is important it should be second to the quality of the car. If you have the fastest car around a circuit with a good driver at the helm then you should be winning regularly QED. Not so say Michael and Ross, Tyre strategy is the premier element and is the reason that the field is so close.
Pirelli have tended to pour cold water on any criticism of the tyres and they have been supported by the comments of a number of drivers and teams who appear to have missed the point being made by Schumi and Brawn with regard to the fact that this is MOTORSPORT and not tyre sport.
Pirelli have finally shown their true hand, which is to influence races to such a degree that they get maximum publicity. Their remarks about the tyre choices (which they have made) for Spain prove that they see their role as exerting maximum influence on the ability of the cars to race - effectively closing the field up to attempt to circumvent the natural ability of the best car/driver combination to win the race:
"We've nominated the soft and hard tyre in order to highlight performance differences that will create a different challenge for the teams, showcasing both the speed and durability of our products," Paul Hembrey said. "There is a whole step in between our two nominations for the first time this year and this should allow the teams to come up with a number of different tyre strategies that could make a big difference to the final outcome. With many teams having expanded their knowledge of our tyre range and tested new components at Mugello, we're expecting a closely-fought Spanish Grand Prix - and maybe even the fifth different winner in five races."
I'm in agreement with Schumi, Ross and Mercedes. With their quali speed advantage they should have at least a couple of wins under their belts at this stage and the chance for a couple more before the others catch up. What they have at the moment is a chance for their drivers to have great races which are determined by tyre choice, tyre strategy and tyre quality. I'm tyred of it all let's get back to racing.
