McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says Pirelli should not be criticised

Speaking during Vodafone's media phone-in, Whitmarsh said that things could have been worse for the sport's fans if Pirelli had produced a 'benign' tyre following the most wide open start to a campaign since 1983.

Asked by AUTOSPORT whether he agreed with the view, shared by Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz that this year's Pirelli tyres had too much influence over the outcome of a grand prix, Whitmarsh replied: "A little bit yes," before adding that this was not the Italian manufacturers' fault.

"I don't want to be critical of Pirelli in that sense," he said. "If they had made a benign and easy to use tyre then in a sense, probably all of the teams, drivers, engineers would be much more comfortable in what they do each weekend, but the fans and the show will have been affected detrimentally.

"As a team principal, and a racer within this business, I can see some of the frustrations as to how significant tyre performance has been and how challenging that is, but standing back from it I think we have put on an extraordinary start to this season - we are 25 per cent of the way through with every single race having a different constructor and driver winning.

"It will be very tough on us if it carries on for another 15 races like this, but I think it is all there to play for."

Whitmarsh added that he could not remember a time during his stint with McLaren when it had been so difficult to know his team's level of performance going into a grand prix.

"Giving predictions in F1 is normally quite difficult but I have never known it quite as challenging in my 20 years in the sport - not knowing when you go to a new event whether you are going to be competitive or not, or even from day-to-day it seems.

"So it causes some internal frustration, but I think it is great for the sport overall."