Pirelli respond to criticism of Mercedes drivers: 'Not our choice'

Pirelli have responded to criticism from Lewis Hamilton, who finds it incomprehensible that intermediates could not be driven during the second free practice session. The tyre supplier stressed that the teams themselves chose the rule change in question, in consultation with Formula 1 and the FIA.

Pirelli responds to criticism of Mercedes drivers

Whereas F1 teams were previously provided with four sets of intermediates and given an extra set of tyres if driven on this compound, from this year they will get five sets of intermediates - but without the extra set of tyres if actually used. As the intermediates could not be used on the damp track in FP2, Hamilton does not understand anything about this rule change. George Russell also expressed criticism.

Simone Berra, Pirelli's chief engineer, stressed that the teams themselves chose the change. "This [rule change] was obviously voted by all the teams together with FIA and F1," he is quoted by Motorsport.com. Berra explained that most teams have chosen not to run on intermediates at all due to the high degradation and a chance of rain during the race.

"It is something that we will discuss further with the FIA and with the teams, to try to find a way to make them run in practice. It is not our decision in the end, but in the next weeks it will be a topic for discussion," he explained. According to Berra, only a small adjustment to the rules is needed to encourage teams to still drive in conditions like during FP2 in Japan: requiring all teams to hand in one set of intermediates after a wet session.