Pirelli ponders revising Formula 1 tyres in time for British GP
Pirelli is considering an overhaul to its tyres for the British Grand Prix in late June in a bid to prevent excessive pitstops ruining the Formula 1 spectacle
After a four-stop Spanish Grand Prix reignited the debate about whether Pirelli's aggressive approach to 2013 had gone too far, its motorsport director Paul Hembery admitted on Sunday that changes were now being evaluated.
"We aim for two to three pitstops and it was too aggressive today," he explained. "We want to get back to our plan."
Pirelli has faced repeated calls from reigning champion Red Bull to revert to harder compounds for the remainder of the season, because the Milton Keynes-based outfit believes it cannot exploit the full potential of its car with the current rubber.
So far, Pirelli has resisted those calls - although it did make tweaks to the hard compound for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix to try and make it easier for the teams to use that specific tyre.
Hembery said that Pirelli would have to think carefully about its exact plans, amid fears that any changes could leave Red Bull well clear at the front of the field.
"We would look for Silverstone, but you have to bear in mind that we have a lot of teams against it and just one maybe for," he said.
"So if I said we were going to make a change, I know I am going to have the podium people today not happy - then you [the media] will be here at Silverstone telling me we have given the championship to Red Bull. It will be damned if you, damned if you don't."
Hembery suggested that tweaks to the tyres would probably need to go beyond just revising the compounds, and that structural changes would likely be needed to ensure that races became two-stops again.
When asked if using the harder experimental tyre tried on Friday in the race would have helped the situation, Hembery said: "We don't think it is enough. The development tyre on Friday would have been better, and had less graining.
"But if we had used the one from Friday morning that would have got us to a three-stop."
Previous article
Spanish GP: post-race press conference
Next article
Red Bull owner Mateschitz says F1 is not racing anymore
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Author | Jonathan Noble |
Why sustainability is being mandated by F1
Continuing to be socially acceptable as public views shift globally is vitally important to the future of motor racing, says PAT SYMONDS - especially in Formula 1, the championship that represents the technological peak
The Barcelona practice times that prove Red Bull's title credentials, and heap pressure on Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes led the way in Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix, but there was one big encouraging sign for Red Bull. The trouble is, it looks like making good on that gain will require its superstar driver to avoid repeating a mistake made today that left him well down the FP2 order
Why McLaren doesn’t doubt Ricciardo can escape his ‘dark’ place
Three points finishes from as many starts represents a decent opening innings on paper, but Daniel Ricciardo has endured a tough start to his McLaren career - only magnified his team-mate's excellent form. Yet both he and the team have good reason to expect a turnaround soon
What needs to “change” for Red Bull is ending Verstappen’s errors
OPINION: Going up against the dominant force of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton was always going to demand the best from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. But after making a couple more errors during the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Dutch driver showed there's a small gap he still needs to close in the 2021 Formula 1 title fight
The "subtle" Red Bull upgrades that kept it in the Portugal F1 mix
Red Bull's Portuguese Grand Prix fortunes were decidedly second best to Mercedes', but the result skews the potential that the team had at Portimao. With a new set of updates, the team looks good going forward into the rest of 2021's spicy F1 competition
Portuguese Grand Prix Driver Ratings
The 2021 Portuguese GP will for several drivers go down as a weekend of missed opportunities amid imperfect track conditions that caused struggles with tyre warmup. But the performances of a select few stood out from the crowd
How Hamilton took a “completely different journey” to Portugal victory
Just as he did in 2020, Lewis Hamilton had to come from behind to win the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. Only this time there were two rivals he had to pass, among the several challenges he had to overcome, on his way to securing a 97th grand prix victory
The ‘big fish’ mentality that kept an Australian legend winning
Frank Gardner was the veteran of just eight grand prix starts. It could have been more, but why waste his talent if the cars weren't up to it? NIGEL ROEBUCK recalls the life of one of racing's great characters
