Paul Hembery on Thursday admitted Pirelli's efforts to design tyres that reach a sudden grip 'cliff' did not work out as planned for 2016. We have reported that, to force more pitstops and spice up the show, a feature of this year's tyre construction is a special layer that, when reached, results in a sudden performance dip.
But "In reality, the tyre wear is not exactly as we would like," international media reports quote Hembery as having said in Melbourne. And he said changes to the construction will not be made in-season, as the bulk of Pirelli's efforts will be on preparing for the vastly different regulations for 2017.
Pirelli's F1 chief Hembery also admitted that, while Bernie Ecclestone has signed off the commercial deal, Pirelli is yet to conclude definitive contracts with the FIA to remain in F1 beyond 2016. "It is more a question of legal formalities," he said. "However, an intensive dialogue is continuing and we are already pretty well advanced in those." (GMM)
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Replies (5)
Login to replymclarenfan1968
Posts: 1,027
As long as the tyres don't explode all is good. A slow-medium puncture of the tyres is more than enough to punish greedy teams like Mercedes who try to stretch it out way more than necessary. We just need to keep them never being able to do one stop less than the competition.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
" a feature of this year's tyre construction is a special layer that, when reached, results in a sudden performance dip." Thats incredibly artificial. Give us a tyre that enables the drivers to push instead of a tyre that might be outright dangerous.
khasmir
Posts: 893
I agree, these artificial gimmicks are so lame. Is this racing???
f1dave
Posts: 782
Funny, but tire wear is not exactly what the fans would like either. How about tires that last a reasonable length of time, not six laps.
Hepp
Posts: 200
Pirelli's reputation is on the line. They can't do the new specs. Does FOM have a backup?. not yet.