After the second free practice of the Japanese Grand Prix, which fell into the water, Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were critical of the changed tire rules, which ensured that virtually no one went out on a set of intermediates on Friday afternoon. could go. However, according to Pirelli, the teams themselves have agreed to the change.
During the past winter period, new rules regarding the allocation of rain tires came into effect. F1 drivers no longer have to make do with four sets of intermediates and two sets of rain tires, this season the teams of both compounds will have an extra set at their disposal. However, there is still a downside to this new rule. Under the old rule, teams received an extra set of intermediates if they had used one of those four sets on Friday. However, the teams will no longer receive that ‘extra’ set this year after the rule change.
Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Russell are not happy with the new rule and the seven-time world champion even states that the new rule is ‘not logical’. However, Pirelli responds to the Mercedes duo, through chief engineer Simone Berra. “This rule change has clearly been approved by all teams, together with the FIA ​​and F1,” Berra told Motorsport.com. ‘Nowadays a team does not have to hand in a set of intermediates if they were used in free practice, as was the case last year. Especially on this track, where you have high tire wear and since there might be some rain on Sunday, most decided not to use the five sets
Pirelli wants to discuss rule
The Mercedes drivers were disappointed that FP2 could not be driven due to the rule change. Berra indicates that Pirelli wants to sit down with the FIA ​​and teams to discuss this problem. ‘That is something we will discuss further with the FIA ​​and the teams, to ensure that they continue to drive in training. Ultimately it is not up to us, but this will be a topic of discussion in the coming weeks’, who already presents a possible solution. ‘They can get five sets from the start, but if a session is declared wet, you have to give up a set of the intermediates anyway. Then it doesn’t make sense not to use it,” Berra says. “So that’s a way to encourage them to still drive.”
