2019 tyres to stay after teams reject change to 2018 spec

Teams have voted to keep the current spec of Pirelli tyres for the remainder of the 2019 season after a meeting was called on Friday morning.

Many teams have been struggling with the 2019 compounds, which feature a thinner tread compared to their 2018 predecessors. 

Getting the tyre to operate within its ideal working window has been the issue for some, which has been a problem from the start of the year.

On Friday morning, a meeting was held between the teams, F1 and Pirelli as the teams voted on returning to the old concepts - however just five voted in favour of the change, falling short of the seven votes needed for the switch.

It is believed that Ferrari, Haas, Alfa Romeo, Red Bull and Torro Rosso voted in favour of the change, while Mercedes, Racing Point, Williams, McLaren and Renault were against it.

Even if the change was approved, the 2018 tyres wouldn't return until the last handful of races of the 2019 season.

The FIA can intervene and force teams to return to the 2018 compounds, however such a scenario is unlikely as any decision would usually be made on the grounds of safety.