MANAMA, 5 April 2004 — Going into the 2004 Gulf Air Grand Prix, tires were a major cause for concern. New regulations for the 2004 season stated that the choice of tires for the qualifying session and Grand Prix must be determined by 9 a.m. on Saturday. Tires are not an inexpensive investment in Formula One. Each tire costs $750 and rims are $900 each.
With temperatures on the track expected to be extremely high, both Bridgestone and Michelin, the manufacturers supplying tires to the F-1 teams, had been conducting simulation tests on dry weather tire compounds for months to try to ascertain the best selection for the event. In Friday’s second practice session, with the track at 50 degrees Celsius, three of Michelin’s tires suffered catastrophic collapses. Investigation of the Bahrain International Circuit by the FIA’s technical department discovered that on the track, two drainage hatches had come detached from their concrete bases, creating sharp ridges that damaged the tires.
Saturday’s practice and qualifying proceeded without incident. Coming into the race, Scuderia Ferrari’s vehicles equipped with Bridgestone tires were in both the pole and second position. Williams-BMW and BAR Honda drivers took the next four positions equipped with Michelin tires.
Julliard Jerome, technical assistant, BAR Honda discussed the tire situation early in the morning before the Grand Prix.
“During the race weekend we’ll normally go through seven or eight sets of dry tires or three sets of shallow wet or three sets of extreme wet tires,” he explained. “We had to choose between two different dry compounds by Saturday morning. After going through all this preparation for severe heat, now we have rain. It’s a bit disappointing really. And to be honest, everyone is very nervous waiting to see how the weather will be at race time.”
As it turned out, by the afternoon start of the Grand Prix there was light rain and a track temperature of just 31 degrees Celsius. Conditions were still considered to be challenging due to the morning’s sandstorm and rain, but tire performance was reliable throughout the race. Bridgestone took top honors as Scuderia Ferrari’s cars finished in first and second place. Michelin took third through tenth positions.
