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Brundle: That feels very much the wrong way around to me

Brundle: "That feels very much the wrong way around to me"

24-08-2020 07:28 Last update: 11:51

GPblog.com

During the Spanish Grand Prix Sergio Perez constantly asked his team about the tyres. According to Martin Brundle a driver should feel this for himself instead of a team in the pitbox coming to conclusions based on all kinds of data. The former Formula 1 driver is therefore of the opinion that the pinnacle of motorsport should do something about this.

"A low point of the race for me was when we heard Perez over the radio asking his team how his tyres were. That feels very much the wrong way around to me," Brundle said in his column for Sky Sports. "It's another endorsement for limiting car-to-pit telemetry only to items which are safety critical for driver (and therefore those trackside too) and the rotating hot oily bits. As the regulations say, 'the driver must drive alone and unaided'."

Max and Lewis take initiative

At the moment everything can be analyzed with data, but the British F1 commentator would rather see that change. He also points to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. "It was interesting to hear both Hamilton and Verstappen influencing their own race strategies. Hamilton declined a set of the soft tyres, instead demanding the mediums. He was right, they were relatively rubbish when fitted to his team-mate's car. Max was more along the lines of 'my tyres are finished, I know you have a stash of replacements we made earlier and I want some right now'."

Brundle is not the only supporter of limiting telemetry. Helmut Marko also wants fewer technical help. Red Bull Racing's advisor wants to make the drivers more important again and for that reason also wants to further limit radio communication between drivers and teams.