From GMM
Red Bull's competition director Helmut Marko told the APA news agency that the development of Pirelli's tires this year will be crucial.
"There are going to be a lot more tire pistops this year and when the safety car comes out at a bad time, the middle class teams could benefit," he said.
The Austrian acknowledged that the teams and Bernie Ecclestone pushed for more tire degradation to improve the show, but he said Pirelli has "not yet found the right balance".
"From the middle of the season they will get it under control, so it should not be decisive for the entire year," he added.
Fernando Alonso agrees that the Pirelli factor has perhaps been overstated recently.
"The best and fastest car will still win the title. Strategy is going to be important, and a couple of times it will happen that maybe the fastest one has the wrong strategy. But over 19 races, the most important thing is to have a fast car," he is quoted by Autosprint.
Pirelli has vowed to continue to make improvements to the current generation of tires and wants Pedro de la Rosa to be on duty one last time.
The veteran Spaniard, who was the Italian tire marque's main tester for the development of this year's tires, has now returned to his former role as McLaren reserve driver for 2011.
"Our first test is in April and it would be ideal for Pedro to do it before he leaves. We have made some modifications to the (2009) Toyota and as Pedro has driven it I would like him to compare (the changes)," Pirelli's Paul Hembery is quoted in Spanish by the as.com website.
Red Bull's competition director Helmut Marko told the APA news agency that the development of Pirelli's tires this year will be crucial.
"There are going to be a lot more tire pistops this year and when the safety car comes out at a bad time, the middle class teams could benefit," he said.
The Austrian acknowledged that the teams and Bernie Ecclestone pushed for more tire degradation to improve the show, but he said Pirelli has "not yet found the right balance".
"From the middle of the season they will get it under control, so it should not be decisive for the entire year," he added.
Fernando Alonso agrees that the Pirelli factor has perhaps been overstated recently.
"The best and fastest car will still win the title. Strategy is going to be important, and a couple of times it will happen that maybe the fastest one has the wrong strategy. But over 19 races, the most important thing is to have a fast car," he is quoted by Autosprint.
Pirelli has vowed to continue to make improvements to the current generation of tires and wants Pedro de la Rosa to be on duty one last time.
The veteran Spaniard, who was the Italian tire marque's main tester for the development of this year's tires, has now returned to his former role as McLaren reserve driver for 2011.
"Our first test is in April and it would be ideal for Pedro to do it before he leaves. We have made some modifications to the (2009) Toyota and as Pedro has driven it I would like him to compare (the changes)," Pirelli's Paul Hembery is quoted in Spanish by the as.com website.
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| Photo WRi2 |