Bridgestone confident on slick tires

Bridgestone are confident that degradation problems teams have suffered with new slick tires in testing will be resolved before the start of the season.

There were complaints during tests held at the Jerez circuit in Spain last month that the new rear tires suffer from severe degradation due to increased oversteer.

However, Bridgestone's motorsport chief engineer Jun Matsuzaki told autosport.com that the problem was more a matter of drivers and teams having to adapt.

"It is still early days for the teams working on their understanding of the slick tires and the aerodynamic regulations, so we would expect improvements in all areas of how teams use their tires," he said.

Explaining his rationale, Matsuzaki added: "Jerez's circuit layout is one which is harsh on the rear tires. Also, Jerez in December is colder than we will see during the season, so there was graining on the rear tires and this led to greater degradation than we would see in warmer weather.

"Tire dimension is a factor, but tire compound and construction play a big part too. The construction of the rear tires was upgraded for the move to slicks to maintain the balance of fronts and rears.

"The balance of the grip created by tires is still a little on the oversteer side, but this is something which will be countered by car set-up as teams learn how best to use these tires."

The 2009 season will be the first in 12 years in which Formula One cars will have used slick tires.

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