Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli, the official tire supplier to Formula 1, said it would be ready to supply qualifying tires on short notice if needed.
In an interview given to Autosprint, Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said that the company is ready to supply Q3-only tires, but adds that the teams are reluctant to change the format of the qualifying session.
The main concern about the current format is that the cars must be shod on the same tires they qualify on in the race, something that has lead to drivers sitting out Q3 in order to limit their running and save sets of tires for the Grand Prix.
In order to change this, Pirelli could supply additional tires for the qualifying effort only.
"We could do it immediately," Hembery told Autosprint. "We could come up with a specific compound, or maintain the current ones. But the teams say that the format is fine as is, that the public enjoys tire strategies”.
Paul Hembery added: “But if a fan on the grandstands doesn't see much running in Q3, then that fan casts the blame on Pirelli thinking that we don't want to spend any more money in order to supply more tires."
In an interview given to Autosprint, Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said that the company is ready to supply Q3-only tires, but adds that the teams are reluctant to change the format of the qualifying session.
The main concern about the current format is that the cars must be shod on the same tires they qualify on in the race, something that has lead to drivers sitting out Q3 in order to limit their running and save sets of tires for the Grand Prix.
In order to change this, Pirelli could supply additional tires for the qualifying effort only.
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| Photo: Pirelli |
"We could do it immediately," Hembery told Autosprint. "We could come up with a specific compound, or maintain the current ones. But the teams say that the format is fine as is, that the public enjoys tire strategies”.
Paul Hembery added: “But if a fan on the grandstands doesn't see much running in Q3, then that fan casts the blame on Pirelli thinking that we don't want to spend any more money in order to supply more tires."