F1 News

Pirelli would only change tyres if it was a safety concern

Pirelli would only change tyres if it was a safety concern

15-06-2019 16:12

Bevan Youl

Speculation has been around that Pirelli should change the current tyres back to the 2018 specification to end Mercedes’ success of the current season, but a change would only occur if there was a safety issue.

The 2019 tyres are 0.4 mm thinner that the previous year which reduces the blistering and overheating but has created a difficult working area for the tyre to have optimum performance.
 
Mercedes have had all the success so far this season and seem to have grasped the demands of the news tyres better than the rest.
 
Amid the speculation and concerns from teams such as Red Bull and Ferrari there has been no official request to Pirelli to revert the tyres back to last year’s spec.
 
Pirelli’s F1 boss Mario Isola said to Motorsport: "It is very clear how you can modify the construction or the compounds during the season.
 
"I didn't receive any request so far. If I receive a request that is reasoned, we will consider that request. We will consider what we have to do to modify the tyres, and we will discuss that with the FIA.

"We, Pirelli, can modify the construction or the compound, the specification of the tyre, only for safety. At the moment there is no safety concern.

"Even if I sent a request to the FIA, to be honest I don't know what to write in that request because I cannot reason any change for safety. I cannot. There is no safety concern."

Isola admitted to achieving most of the targets for 2019 but also that the working area for the tyres was a concern which Pirelli are working to improve for the rest of the season.

But also that it was now up to the teams to work their car around the tyres.

"How to design the car, how to generate the downforce, to design the suspension, is their job," he added.

"We still have to work on the working range, but we did most of the job and now it's up to them to generate the energy."

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