BETTER PARTSShould F1 have chosen a tire supplier other than Pirelli?
Pirelli is allowed to make tires for F1 cars until 2027, but is that a good decision?
Tire supplier Pirelli may provide the tires in F1 until the 2027 season. Tire farmers could indicate to the FIA whether they wanted to take care of the F1 rubber. Bridgestone also responded to this. The Japanese company offered to make F1 tires until 2025. Pirelli's offer turned out to suit the FIA better. Unfortunately, there will be no return of a tire war between multiple tire brands.
The news of the contract extension comes shortly after the Qatar GP. Pirelli didn't exactly look good there. The race management was forced to take extra measures to prevent tire explosions. According to Pirelli, the new asphalt and aggressive curbstones caused 'excessive tire damage'. That is why drivers were allowed to drive a maximum of 18 laps on a set of tires.
Qatar was not a good location for the tire rule
Because the new rule required every driver to make three stops, teams did not have to spend the entire race saving tires for the first time since 2010. The drivers did not seem to be able to pull this off well, partly due to the heat. Ocon vomited in the car and Stroll fainted while driving. Not what you want when you're hurtling down the straight at 300+ km/h.
Logan Sargeant gave up early in Qatar and had to be helped to the medical staff by his team | Photo: © Williams
We want a tire rule like in Qatar more often
Even though the emergency measure seemed a bit amateurish and the drivers were exhausted, we found the race a lot more fun because of the rule. For the first time in living memory, Max Verstappen was not repeatedly told to slow down, but was able to give everything for 57 laps. Okay, under these circumstances it was a bit too much, but it's not bad to see drivers get out of the car exhausted, right? With the tire rule we can really see who is the best driver, not who can pay best attention to his rubber.
The F1 weekend in Qatar was not Pirelli's first failure. We remember Stroll and Verstappen's punctures during the 2021 Azerbaijan GP for which Pirelli had no explanation. The tire strategies that Pirelli devises for the race also seem to be based on a finger with a blob of saliva on it.
The mess in Qatar and the other omissions have therefore had no influence on F1's confidence in Pirelli. In fact, the deal between F1 and Pirelli can be extended for an additional year until 2028. This is rumored to be the last year. Maybe Bridgestone, Michelin or LingLong will take a shot at F1 again.