Ferrari say Pirelli needs to change hard compound tyres for next races of 2011 season – Formula 1 news
Ferrari have said that Pirelli must change its hard compound tyres for the remaining races of the 2011 season as most of the drivers have faced problems with them.
Both the drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa had a problem with Pirelli’s hard rubber. Massa retired from the recently held Spanish Grand Prix, as he did not get enough grip on the revised hard tyres. His teammate Alonso’s race was also affected, as
he lost a lot of time when he made the switch to soft tyres.
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said that Pirelli is not only working for Ferrari. He said it gives positive results to the other strong teams, especially Red Bull Racing team. However, he said that the Italian tyre suppliers must make sure in
upcoming races that the tyres which they have delivered to Ferrari are perfect.
He admitted that the drivers still need to do more work on these tyres, despite their good performance in the recent Barcelona GP. In addition, he is not sure about the full potential of his team in the ongoing season.
The team principal added, “What we saw in Spain were conditions that needed to have maximum downforce, and we don't have it! We have to multiply the fact that with the hard tyre we were not able to make it work. Remember Fernando was leading for 18 laps
– so in 46 laps we were lapped – losing around three seconds per lap.”
He further added that the tyre strategy in Spain was still difficult to explain, as no one could understand their working over the race.
Domenicali admitted that Massa’s retirement from the race was disappointing for the team, as he seemed to be improving since the last two races of the season.
He also discussed the upcoming race weekend and added, “The nature of the people in Maranello has to be that they need to push and, if we still see a light, we need to work hard. We want to see if we can keep it alive as long as possible, so we still believe.”
The sixth round of the 2011 season, the Monaco Grand Prix is scheduled to be held this weekend on May 29.
Tags: