Lewis Hamilton believes the new Pirelli tyres are 'painfully slow' - Formula 1 News
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton recently warned that the new tyres introduced by Pirelli are going to make the cars slower in the 2011 Formula 1 season.
“Formula One does seem to have slowed down. The cars are slower on a race distance. Last year we had to make tyres last with heavier fuel load and now it's even slower. I did run the other day and it was painfully slow, it really was. Just not exciting,
to be honest,” Hamilton told the media.
Pirelli is going to be the new lone tyre suppliers of the 2011 Formula 1 season as Bridgestone decided to depart from the sport after the end of the 2010. Other than that, Pirelli were asked by the FIA to introduce some new tyre compounds that degrade quicker
than the Bridgestones of 2010 as the 2010 Formula 1 season lacked the element and excitement of pit strategies.
However, the drivers and constructors have criticized the new Pirelli tyres as they believe that the new tyres degrade quicker than they were expected to.
“The first run - I didn't think I was pushing very hard - and the tyres were finished after nine laps, down to the canvas. On the next run, I had to go easier. It was almost like doing an out lap and just about made it to 15 or 16 on a soft tyre,” said Lewis.
As a result, the teams are concerned that they might even have to opt for a 3-4 pit strategy as well during some of the races, which is too much for the teams. During the earlier seasons in the first decade of 2000, the teams used to opt for a maximum of
3 pits and that was more than enough.
Pitting for 4 times in a 60-70 laps race is going to make racing entertaining in the beginning, but frustrating later on for both the teams and the spectators. That way, the drivers won’t be able to gain some momentum and perform at their best.
Hamilton is concerned that the teams won’t be able to perform up to the mark in terms of speed and aggression as compared to the past couple of seasons because of the new tyres. This is mainly because of the fact that the drivers usually score their fastest
times when their new tyres wear out a bit which decreases the grip levels a bit but the speed increases.
Nevertheless, the teams are going to be looking forward to the final pre-season test session that is expected to take place in Barcelona starting from the 8th of March.
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