Gascoyne: marked tyres a victory for fans

As autosport.com revealed earlier this week, an 11th hour move by the FIA and the Formula One Commission has resulted in F1 adopting its own version of Champ Car's 'red tyre' markings.

Although it is not confirmed exactly how the two different specifications of tyres will be marked, it is likely that the softer specification will feature a round circle.

The move to mark tyres differently was initially blocked by some teams - something that Gascoyne says he was baffled by.

"I think it is tremendous," said Gascoyne when asked by autosport.com about the rule change. "It was absolutely ridiculous for some teams to resist it.

"You don't have a tyre war anymore, you have got two different specs of tyre which could provide some interest - and then some people wanted to hide what you were doing. It is what they do in Champ Car and I think this new rule is absolutely right."

Despite supporting the move to make tyres visibly different, Gascoyne does not think that the races will be made much more exciting by the fact drivers have to use both specifications of tyres in the race.

"I think there might be the odd occasion where it does do something, but now we are in with a one-make tyre supplier the tyres are pretty hard," he explained.

"The soft tyre will always be the quicker tyre and I don't think it will have any particular problems, which I think will drive everyone into doing the same strategy.

"So it won't really mix things up. There might be the odd occasion when it does, but I don't think it will be particularly significant."