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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Tyred of hearing about Pirelli performance

Pirelli are providing tyres to all teams this year - FACT.

No team has gained an advantage by being part of Pirelli's tyre development process - FACT.

All teams are therefore on a level playing field - FACT

Why are all the drivers griping about them?  Pirelli have provided a number of different compounds from Super-Soft to Hard and will be bringing the most appropriate two compounds to each race.  From the sounds of things the drivers appear to be whinging that they degrade very fast and will lead to an increase in the number of pit-stops.

It is interesting that I haven't heard much from Jenson Button on the topic; the driver who everyone considers is easiest on tyres.

The likes of Lewis whose driving style is very hard on tyres may have to adapt or struggle while those like Button may be able to wring some crucial extra laps out of their cars.

Should the Pirelli compounds prove to be a particular problem we could see driving style emerging over sheer speed.  It may make no difference in qualifying, but the top eight race positions may be determined on the number of pit-stops which each driver needs.

It is worth mentioning that Pirelli have stated that they were requested to provide a tyre that degraded more rapidly than in previous seasons.

On that basis it might be worth revoking the rule with regard to each car using both compounds during the race and leave it up to the teams to work out their own pit-stop strategies.