Pirelli acquiesce to team tyre demands from Canada onwards - Team complaints reach fever pitch, and Pirelli agree to change
Published by Christine
Complaints about the 2013 range of F1 tyres have been prevalent since the start of the season, but after the Spanish Grand Prix, they sky-rocketed. Red Bull, in particular, were very vocal about their feelings, with team boss Dietrich Mateschitz telling Autosport: “This has nothing to do with racing anymore. This is a competition in tyre management... There is no more real qualifying and fighting for the pole, as everyone is just saving tyres for the race.”
With criticism reaching record levels, Pirelli have agreed to re-evaluate the tyres in time for the Canadian Grand Prix. Motorsport director of the Italian company, Paul Hembery, said in a statement: “Our aim is to provide the teams with a new range which mixes the stability of the 2012 tyres and the performance of the current ones. As a company, we have always moved quickly to make improvements where we see them to be necessary.”
He also pointed to the fact that they don’t have a current car to test the tyres with as part of the problem, saying although they do have detailed simulations, they may have under-estimated how aggressive the cars would be this season.
