F1 to be slower in 2007

Champ Cars have always been slower than F1 cars because 1) They weigh about 400 pounds more with driver, and 2) Except for the tire war years, have always run on hard spec tires.

Next year the new Champ Car reduces the weight disadvantage to just 300 pounds, and the F1 cars are about to get slower, much slower, as they too will run on harder spec Bridgestone rubber.

Autosport.com reports that Bridgestone's technical manager Hisao Suganuma said, "We more or less have some idea of which type of tire we are going to supply, and we are now starting to think about how we can do the testing," explained Suganuma.

"Compared to this year's compounds, it will be hard. It is an older construction with some modifications. I think it will be about two seconds (per lap) slower."

The Japanese marque's sporting director, Hiroshi Yasukawa, allayed the fears of currently Michelin shod runners by promising a harder tire that will be a couple of seconds slower.

He said: ''And Bridgestone has a very good reputation for treating everyone equally.

''I don't think our current teams will have any advantage in real terms.''

With the new lighter, more sophisticated Champ Car sure to have been faster at Montreal next year, and the F1 cars going 2 seconds per lap slower, Bernie Ecclestone probably had nightmares worrying about the comparisons in lap times between Champ Car and F1. Would be quite embarrassing for F1 if a car costing 1/10th the amount was within 1 second, or even 2, of an F1 car…..in steps his friend Normand Legault, and lo and behold, Champ Car is no longer racing in Montreal. Would Bernie worry about such a detail? You betcha.