Pirelli: The criticisms from F1 teams are easy
The president of Pirelli stated in Monaco that the criticism from drivers and F1 teams regarding the tire compounds provided by the Italian firm is easy because it's usually the tires that are blamed when things don't go well for a team and they can't find the source of their problems.
Pirelli returned to Formula 1 in 2011 to succeed Bridgestone as the sole tire manufacturer for Formula 1. However, this return to the pinnacle of motorsport took 20 years for the Italian firm despite requests, as revealed by its CEO.
« We were absent from Formula 1 for 20 years because of the costs. Bernie Ecclestone regularly asked us, but each time, I responded: “If we are paid, then we will come.” But to be honest, it wasn’t until mid-2010 that it became clear that the role of sole manufacturer was indeed paid. So we tried and we won the contract, » stated Marco Tronchetti Provera, as quoted by Speed Week.
This season marked the start of the second three-year contract for the Milan manufacturer despite frequent criticism last season, highlighted by the British Grand Prix which was marked by numerous delaminations.
If the Pirelli boss is well aware of the frequent negative comments from certain drivers, he believes that the tires are the easiest element to criticize when things aren’t going well for a team or a driver: “We listen to all forms of criticism but our primary goal, especially with this new turbo era, has always been safety. It is clearly easier to equip only a few teams with tires rather than the entire grid, because when a team is not doing very well, and no one knows quite whom to blame, they usually start with the tire manufacturer.”
During the Spanish Grand Prix, there were criticisms regarding the tires, specifically Pirelli’s choice to bring its hardest range of tires to the Catalunya track. This situation prompted Paul Hembery, the brand’s competition director, to break his silence, stating that “this type of excuse is pathetic.”
The Milan firm has a contract running until the end of the 2016 Formula 1 season, but for the moment, quoted by Tuttosport, Marco Provera has been evasive about a new extension of the partnership with F1: « Formula 1 is a part of our lives to highlight our employees and our technologies. It is a continuous laboratory. We have a contract until 2016. Then, we will see. »
