After much debate and complaining by teams such as Red Bull regarding the extreme degradation of the tyres, Pirelli announced they are going to revert back to the 2012 tyre construction by the Canadian Grand Prix, although the 2013 compounds will remain. However, the FIA have said only minor changes will be allowed for safety reasons indicating the 2013 tyres will stay.
I was going to write about how the apparent change by Pirelli should have been made at the end of the season. Teams such as Lotus and Ferrari have designed their cars to suit the tyres and it is hardly their fault if the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes have failed to do as good a job.
Red Bull in particular has expressed their dissatisfaction with the tyres to a great extent despite winning two races so far this year. They are suffering because their car produces a great deal of down force, but they cannot exploit this as it degrades the tyres too quickly.
Over the last few days Lotus and Ferrari have aired their views that their cars are looking after the tyres better as they used the information Pirelli gave them of the 2013 compounds and designed accordingly. They see no reason to change especially after what looks like persistent lobbying from Red Bull, and after what were fairly perceived to be an excessive amount of pit stops at the last race in Spain.
In truth I’m sure all teams would have got a grip on the tyre situation by mid-season, Pirelli admit they’ve gone too far with the degradation, but there were similar headlines in 2011 and 2012 but by the end of the season there were many two or one stop races as the teams adjusted.
I think the reaction has been a bit much, although I would like to see more of a return to drivers being able to push a bit more without hearing constant radio messages about looking after the tyres. However a change such as this should be made for next year without upsetting the current competitive environment.
We also shouldn’t forget that Pirelli have done a great deal of good for the sport over the last few years which have produced a great deal of fantastic racing. So they’ve gone a bit far this season, but people are quick to forget that a few years ago there were plenty of races where there was no passing at all resulting in many follow the leader at a respectful distance races.
As I’ve written before looking after tyres, or fuel or whatever isn’t actually an unusual thing for Formula 1, it’s been like that most of the time, perhaps with the exception of flat out hard tyre refuelling sprints, even then you had to be mechanically sensitive.
Having said all that it has been reported on Autosport.com that the FIA has said the tyres will remain in 2013 specification with slight tweaks in regards to the tyre delamination’s that occurred in Bahrain and Spain.
Autosport says: ‘The FIA is basing its stance on Article 12.6.3 of the technical
regulations, which has also been cited by teams to Pirelli amid questions about the legality of a bid to change the specification.
The rule states: "Tyre specifications will be determined by the FIA no later than 1 September of the previous season. Once determined in this way, the specification of the tyres will not be changed during the championship season without the agreement of all competing teams."’
This will come as a blow to Red Bull, but bring satisfaction to Lotus and Ferrari. It looks to mean that any changes to the tyres will be minor and should maintain the current order and I think that that is only fair. Any further changes I would expect to be made if Pirelli renew their contract for next year.
This clarification by the FIA is to be welcomed, you shouldn’t just change the rules with barely a quarter of the season over.
It isn’t the best situation in the world, but it’s the one we’ve got and the teams who are suffering should be pushing harder to rectify their problems rather than constantly moaning about it.
It’s Monaco next and for anyone who's tired of tyres, they should hopefully be low on the agenda as it has a low degradation surface so they can concentrate on racing.
photo taken from autosport.com
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