Talk of a new tyre war in Formula One has been quickly quashed by Pirelli’s Paul Hembery. Since returning as the sole supplier in 2011 Pirelli has had to continually answer critics who bemoan the rapid rate of tyre degradation, even though that was part of Pirelli’s brief after replacing Bridgestone.
Hembery said Pirelli would not be interested in continuing to supply F1 if the sport allowed another tyre company to compete.
“We work for the sport. The sport has to decide what it wants,” said Hembery.
“If it wants a tyre war and procession racing again, like it did in the early 2000s, when the audience disappeared, then that’s one approach. It’s not for us to decide.
“We will wait and see if the rules change. If they change, then we will consider it. At the moment the teams are certainly not interested in a tyre war.”
Hembrey says the addition of a competitor would cost both suppliers more money and that due to the variables from team to team that the performances of each tyre would be difficult to judge.
“What does it really mean to have a tyre war? If it means spending 100 million Euros to go half a second quicker—and you can’t even prove that you have the better tyre, because the teams will dominate still—it is pointless,” explained Hembery.
“Ultimately no-one could really make out what tyres were on what car when there was a tyre war. Nobody knew, because all the money was being spent on trying to find performance that the public couldn’t see. And if the public can’t see it, we don’t understand it.”
[Source: Planet F1]