Lotus unhappy with Pirelli’s tyre tweaks - Éric Boullier uses a football comparison to express frustrations
Published by Christine
Pirelli have faced criticism for their Formula One tyres in 2013, and this week agreed to tweak the compounds ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Efforts will be made to increase the durability of the rubber, as well as maintain the excitement of the races.
Lotus team principal Éric Boullier isn’t impressed with this news, believing it to be unfair to make changes like this mid-season. He says: “Just imagine for a moment that, because a football team can’t run as fast as its opponent, the dimensions of the pitch are changed at half time... Last year, when we were designing our 2013 car, each team received information from Pirelli and everyone did the best job they could to develop a chassis which would make the best use of the tyre characteristics... As with every season, some teams do a better job than others with their designs, and some drivers are more adaptable than others.”
However, the Italian tyre manufacturer are hoping the tweaks won’t favour anyone in particular, saying: “These changes are being made for Pirelli, not for anyone else. We didn’t want to over-react, because by doing that we could then be helping certain teams.”
