Pirelli has called off its plans to change the design of its 2013 tyres for the British grand prix and beyond.
F1’s sole tyre supplier has tweaked the design, replacing an inner steel belt with a kevlar one, so as to stop the delamination problems seen this year. Some teams, notably Red Bull and Mercedes, have pushed hard for the tweaked design that was tested for the first time in Canada, having criticised the current tyres.
But others who are more comfortable with the existing design, like Ferrari, Lotus and Force India, are reluctant to agree to the race debut of the modified tyre. Because it has said the delaminations is an aesthetic problem rather a safety one, the change can only be introduced if the teams unanimously agree.
“Pirelli has announced that there will be no new tyres at Silverstone,” the German news agency DPA reports. Paul Hembery has reportedly said the reason for not debuting the tyre in Britain is because of the weather-interrupted testing in Montreal on Friday. But it is also obvious that some teams are simply vetoing the change.
“From my point of view,” Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, “changing the tyres during the season is wrong.”
And after Paul di Resta ran for 57 laps before his first pitstop in Montreal, Force India sporting director Otmar Szafnauer agreed: “We have had no problems with delaminations. “Why should Pirelli change the tyres if we have shown that everything is ok?” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.
And Spain’s El Pais quoted a F1 team source as suggesting that rivals like Red Bull and Mercedes will have to get used to the current situation. “Let them change the geometry of the suspension and improve their aerodynamics,” the source said.
Info: GMM, Image: Mercedes GP
