Pirelli now being too conservative with Formula 1 tyres, says Lotus
Lotus has questioned Pirelli's decision to bring more conservative tyres to the next few Formula 1 races
Following high numbers of pitstops earlier this year, and resistance from teams over Pirelli's plan for tweaks, the Italian company has elected to be conservative with its next compound choices.
Such a move will help teams that have struggled with their tyres, but is not so good for outfits like Lotus that proved better at coping with degradation.
Lotus' track operations director Alan Permane said the tyre choices seemed "conservative and contrary to the supposed approach for the tyre allocations in 2013.
"The individual compounds - super-soft, soft, medium and hard - were made softer for each grade this year in order to present teams with a challenge, which is what we saw at some races earlier in the season.
"That work is undone if you simply allocate harder compounds for races, as we've seen with those nominated for the next three rounds.
"It's certainly unusual to take the same tyres to Hungary as to Bahrain and Silverstone. The situation is quite similar to last year when the allocations went harder late in the year and we just ended up doing one-stop races."
PRE-SEASON PLAN "SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED"
Permane accepted that rival teams were pushing for Pirelli to deliver more durable tyres, but felt that the stance should have stayed as aggressive as was planned at the start of the campaign.
"Of course, there are teams who are eager for the tyres to be more durable; whether through changes to the tyres themselves or changes to the allocations for races," he said.
"In contrast, we're firmly in the camp that the approach to tyre allocation should remain as agreed by the sport before the start of the season, and not be changed part-way through the year."
Lotus team principal Eric Boullier hoped Pirelli might reconsider its decision for future allocations.
"We trust Pirelli's judgement in these matters as they have all the data to analyse and listen to the concerns of all the teams; some of whom are very keen to see the tyres changed, some of whom are very keen to have the tyres left as they are," he explained.
"Let's see what happens in the next three races for which the allocations have been made and see how that impacts on future allocations."
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