Hembery: Pirelli open to change tyre philosophy if Formula 1 teams want it
Pirelli boss Paul Hembery says the manufacturer is open to changing its tyre philosophy if Formula 1 teams want it - but insists it has had no indication that there is any unhappiness about its rubber
Speaking at Mugello, Hembery reiterated his belief that the current generation of tyres had helped produce more exciting racing, but said Pirelli was always open to discussion about it's strategy and approach.
"We were asked to come up with a certain approach, and that was agreed with teams," Hembery said. "The leader for the teams' views was actually Ross [Brawn], and he told us that Canada 2010 was the model they wanted and that is what we worked on.
"What do we want? One car to disappear into the distance? The public turned away from the sport when that happened, so there was a very clear decision made by the sport to address the racing.
"If the sport decides we are too aggressive we can change though; we can supply tyres that don't degrade and allow you to push, as we did last year when the hard and medium tyres had negative degradation - the loss of performance from the tyre was less than the loss of fuel.
"We would [be open to change] for the sport, but its not just the drivers - it's the teams, the promoter. The team principals tend to be quite pragmatic and look at the bigger picture, and I would be very surprised if they asked us to do anything different.
"At the end of the day we do what they want and also the right thing for the sport: it is not us on our own deciding a direction, you have to work together as a partnership."
Asked specifically about Michael Schumacher's criticism of the Pirelli compounds, Hembery said he was sympathetic to the seven-time champion's views.
"I can see Michael's frustrations, but it is the sport that asks us," he said. "There is a strange misconception in that drivers don't push. All four winners were pushing and they were also quicker than their team-mates, so it's hard for me to understand that concept.
"We have limited to some extent what they can push but that doesn't mean they don't have an influence: there is no doubt [they count] and that's very important in a sport that should be about the drivers.
"It's hard to please everybody, we accept that. Tomorrow morning we could do something different, but right now that's not really what the majority is asking."
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| Series | Formula 1 |
| Author | Sam Tremayne |
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