Debate: Should Pirelli Remain in Formula One?

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

I personally don't understand this because drivers have been taking liberties with the Spa curbs forever, even on Pirelli tyres in recent years, and there's been no failures.

But they did make changes to it during the week.

Also, there was that Michelin at Spa episode quite a few years ago. The had more blows and punctures.

 

[Blotto]

Pirelli can stay and I'd welcome Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop and any other tire manufacturer as well.

Simply scrap the silly soft, medium and hard compound rules and let the companies innovate and may the one with the best performing tire win. Yes, it will costs millions in research and development and I don't care, it's F1

as long as we dont get 1/2 the grid missing a f1 race that is. I still remember that USA race and how sad it was.

 

[Milos]

Also, there was that Michelin at Spa episode quite a few years ago. The had more blows and punctures.

as Blotto said, there was much worse, like the 2005 US GP

 

[Queequeg]

I don't think great racing stands and falls with a forced supply of life-threatening garbage tier tyres. Whether Pirelli or the FIA are more to blame is not my concern since the former deserves the bad reputation for participating in this farce and the latter desperately needs a reminder to rethink their policy on the subject.

 

[Ho3n3r]

You can make a tire that degrades in terms of grip and yet not delaminate after even a full race distance, which is what Pirelli is failing at.

 

[John Addison]

Go back to the multi tire manufacture wars. That used to be great, an added excitement to whats become a truly boring series. It would force the manufacturers to up each of their games. Im a long time F1 fan but man has it gone down the drain. Drivers no longer matter. You could even take Maldanado and put him in that Benz of Hamiltons and he'd be on the front row ever race. Ok well maybe not Maldanado but you get the point.....

 

[Milos]

You could even take Maldanado and put him in that Benz of Hamiltons and he'd be on the front row ever race. Ok well maybe not Maldanado but you get the point.....

of course not Maldonado, he would crash in qualifying and not set any lap.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

Sure, go back to 2010 spec Bridgestone and let every race be a 1-stop borefest, or even worse like Monza 2010, where some driver (can't remember who) made his only pit stop on the second last lap of the race, only to fulfill the two compound tire rule. You can't have both durable tires and multiple pit stop strategies, especially not with this new 80 km/h pit limit. Only way to have that would be to go back to refueling.

 

[Skybird05]

Any racing competition event that has the final ranking this much influenced not by skill of the competitors, but administrative regulations, has a basic problem at its very roots, and is an offence to the term "race".

Its like athletes doing 100m sprints getting varied time penalties depending on the length of their legs in cm, or hurdles randomly and surprisingly pushing up their height by an additional 15 cm to make the running athletes battle more exciting for the audience.

And especially formula one has been regulated to death so much that nowadays watching a circle of celebrities playing poker on TV is more entertaining and more exciting. If this geriatric gnome would not be kept alive by his unlimited greed and craving for gold coins, formula one by now probably would be dead or much less regulated, hopefully. He never was a sportsman, but a business man, and business is what its about. But when business regulates sports interest, sports looses. You can see it everywhere. Football, FIFA, athletics, IOC, bicycle - you name it. Corruption, bribery, doping, and money.

I appreciate it when on the few occasions when I do some online hotlapping on the Nordschleife I see people driving not like a sim that has a cost-free reset button, but driving as if they were needing to care for a real car and real risks involved. Where cuts and cheats and tricks possible only in a sim are used just to reduce the laptime to even more unrealistic records, it loses my interest. Real world sports is what you make of it. Simulations are what you use them like.

 

[Esox71]

Can't we have a tyre failure just like engine, gearbox, brakes, suspension etc. Failures?

Having a failure that could kill you.....Sure!!

 

[Frederic Schornstein]

Having a failure that could kill you.....Sure!!

Yes, please give us Fanboost or should we call it Banboost the most voted driver gets a tire blown up...

Fact is you can build a tire that degrades, but doesnt explode eveb after 100 Laps at Spa. You cant do that if you are called Pirelli and always put the blame on something else.
Raikonnen in 2012 or 2011 did a super long stint in China and the tires had no grip at all much worse than Vettels tires. He dropped from P3 outside the points very quickly, but the tire stayed intact, so even Pirelli tires can loose all grip without exploding.

 

[Rob]

As Mr. Sterr pointed out, it matters not who is to blame. Vettel is right (this article is much more focused on the real issue...so thanks). Full stop. The issue is "why does this keep happening?" when the FIA, Pirelli, and whoever else makes a decision that is too liberal for "the sake of" racing excitement. Great races are produced when i) competition (Bram's point); meets ii) innovation and; iii) regulation is kept out of it as much as possible. Drivers accept and deal with danger all the time. I think they know when their lives are being risked by an unnecessary and artificial event simply to make money. That's the real gut kicker. And that's the essence of why people are abandoning F1, as others have noted. Curbing, heat, wrong pressures, etc. All of it is offensive to me. They traded the fear of fire (something that IndyCar deals with, but is very rare and explainable) for the real threat of human fallacy and greed.

Instead of being forced to innovate or have the teams dump them (competition anyone?) Pirelli looks for excuses by combing the track or holding the hand of their partner in crime (and I'd say it is borderline criminal...wait until someone does die) to uncover the facts through an "exhaustive" (read: excuse seeking with the FIA's help) to explain away why four drivers had their tires explode in one race.

Sadly, if as much effort was put into excuse making (I don't care who you blame...and now that Ferrari is impacted, Pirelli's days may be numbered) as could be into actually finding ways to stop this, then it simply would not happen. Ever think of asking a Series that has lots of experience with high speed, like IndyCar or NASCAR? Inner liners maybe? Or is NASCAR just for hicks?

 

[Iain McKenzie]

Yes they should remain. FIA just needs to stop trying to artificially make the sport "more exciting"

 

[f.1.]

I say we scrap tires and move to hovering f1 cars!

 

[Milos]

I say we scrap tires and move to hovering f1 cars!

agreed!
And hovers that eventually wear out aswell
similar to tyres just safer

 

[Darth]

Pirelli needs to sort their safety problems out, especially considering that teams
will be choosing their preferred compound in every GP. If the softs are the tyre
of choice for a team but blow up mid race, then what's the point?

 

[Yapci]

I miss Jason Statham in this races. This is race of death!!!!!!

 

[paracletus]

don't understand it. I ride the radillion kerb on a daily basis in ac, and I've NEVER had a failure.

 

[Iain McKenzie]

don't understand it. I ride the radillion kerb on a daily basis in ac, and I've NEVER had a failure.

I bet you also have lap times comparable to real life too

 

[Blkout]

There's no justification for a tire manufacturer to be forced to design a tire that destroys itself for the sake of adding more pit stops and endangering drivers lives.