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Jenson Button warns of ballooning F1 tyres in Japanese Grand Prix

Jenson Button has warned of the prospect of tyres ballooning and overheating during Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix due to Formula 1 supplier Pirelli setting the pressures too high

Pirelli has opted for high pressures because it feels Suzuka is tough on rubber, yet drivers like Button feels the Italian manufacturer has gone a step too far.

"It's going to be tough for everyone because the pressures are so high, the tyres are just going to be overheating after one lap," he said.

"They end up being like balloons because the pressures get so high.

"Everyone will have problems tomorrow, and we'll be included in that."

Romain Grosjean added: "It's going to be [a problem] since the limits, the restrictions are really extreme.

"It's difficult for everyone. There are teams that are going better than others, but [the pressures] are massively higher than what we would normally run."

His Lotus team-mate Pastor Maldonado is also anticipating a "quite difficult" race given the tyres last for "only one lap".

Maldonado added: "It's too late now, this is what Pirelli decided before starting the weekend, so it's going to be quite tricky during the race.

"I understand on the safety side why they decided to go for those pressures, but on the other hand, the tyres are not performing well."

Daniel Ricciardo acknowledged the tyres could be an issue in the race, but he is confident Red Bull will not be too adversely affected.

"That's going to be the biggest challenge for everyone, tyre temps," said Ricciardo.

"Not so much wear, just keeping the temperatures down in the tyres.

"It's not an easy thing to do, especially round here you've got so many corners one after the other, so you can only keep them so low.

"But the way I've felt with the car, it's underneath me, so I should have a bit more feeling on the long runs and hopefully a bit more ability to save the tyres than some others."

Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery, meanwhile, acknowledged the drivers' concerns, conceding them to be "quite correct", but he sees no reason to make any alterations ahead of the race.

Hembery said: "It's based on the most extreme performance levels, so there's a big gap of course between the frontrunners and the people who are a little bit behind.

"The cars haven't stood still, there's been a dramatic change in performance and a dramatic increase in loads so that's necessitated some changes.

"Suzuka is, of course, one of the most severe tracks of the season so it would be quite normal for us to be taking that approach."

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