'Pirelli tyres don't favour Ferrari'

Pirelli has denied that the 2017 tyres are more in favour of Ferrari. At Monaco, Mercedes seemingly struggled to get their tyres up to temperature. It has also been reported previously that the softer the compound, the more it plays into Ferrari's favour.

Pirelli CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera says that the tyres are the same for everybody and that there is no way they could favour one team over another. He also stated that the new Ferrari challenge is exciting for Formula 1, and just what it needs.

"A strong Ferrari is good for F1.The tyres are the same for everyone," he told Italian radio Rai. "Mercedes has celebrated great successes and at the moment are in a bit of headwind, but I am convinced that they will soon be back. The reason for Ferrari's good performance? It is simply that the team built an excellent car. Perhaps this progress surprised some people but we should recognise the achievement."

Also happy to see the resurgnce of Ferrari is 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg, who retired from the sport after winning his title last year. He admits that he was pleasntley shocked to see how much of a step Ferrari made in one year.

"Mercedes and Ferrari is the perfect duel," Rosberg said. "I just don't know how Ferrari managed to strike back, especially given how far behind they still were last year," he told Sky Italia.

Fergal Walsh