In the aftermath of the events at the Spanish Grand Prix, Pirelli was bombarded by angry fans with accusations that the tyre manufacturer is destroying the nature of the sport. But are they pointing fingers at the wrong suspect?
Outrageous and unacceptable. That's how the situation at the Spanish Grand Prix was described by F1 fans and pundits alike. 80 pit stops all in all, a lack of aggression and overtaking is not what everybody expected after the Italian brand promised a more durable compound. Drivers are complaining that the cars' potential cannot be fully exploited with the fear of having a sudden puncture or tyre failure. And usually what the drivers say is golden.
It's no secret that this tyre war is a rupture in the system and is plaguing the sport more than it should.
But are Pirelli being righteously accused? After all, it is the sport's governing body, the FIA, that asked them to spice things up and deliver multiple stop races with high degrading rubber
This might have gone a stretch too far. We end up with drivers not pushing 100% as they have to nurse the tyres. Qualifying has lost all its importance: with Mercedes 5 tenths faster on Saturday, but losing all the performance on race day due to tyre degradation.
Fans are now demanding longer lasting tyres for races in which a driver can push a car to its limits. The fans are not alone in this.
Red Bull's RB9 is widely believed to be the car that produces the most downforce in Formula 1 this year, but it cannot make use of all that peak performance because it puts the tyres under too much stress. That is why Red Bull and Dietrich Mateschitz are in favor of Pirelli changing the structure of the tyres by the time we set sail for the British Grand Prix
The nature of the challenge of looking after tyres means cars that are more mechanically sympathetic like the Lotus and Ferrari are better equipped when it comes to being consistent in the races.
Therefore, if Ferrari and Lotus are perfectly capable of balancing speed and tyre management, why should there be a change? Formula 1 has always been about nursing either the engine, the gearbox, the brakes and now the tyres. It is a sport in which the team and the driver that is capable of mastering the rules and conditions wins.
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