Mike Gascoyne: Pirelli need to be praised for ending two decades of monotonous racing – Formula 1
Lotus’ chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne has praised the Pirelli tyres and has said that the monotonous races of the past are now over.
Mike said that with the Pirelli high degrading tyres, a front running driver can lose his place and a back sitting driver can fancy his chances.
Pirelli have given four fantastic Grand Prix in the 2011 season so far. Mike stated that the tyre suppliers have lived up to the expectations of the fans and Formula 1 teams.
“Pirelli are to be applauded for their boldness in going down the route they have. We change the tyre-supplier and suddenly we have fantastic racing,” stated Mike.
He also said that the monotony of the front running driver from the past twenty years is now jeopardised and every driver has an equal chance at the title.
He said, “We will have occasions now where a driver in the lead will lose the race because of their tyres, and the last thing any tyre manufacturer in F1 wants is for a driver to get out of the car and say the tyres were useless and that is why they lost
the race.”
Mike further added that the Pirelli tyres along with the Drag Reduction System and Kinetic Energy Recovery System have spiced up the 2011 Formula 1 season for the fans and drivers.
After having a dull 2010 season, Formula 1 was on the verge of losing a huge spectatorship. Some of the smaller ranked teams might have retired from the sport as the front running drivers were just unstoppable.
However, in the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix, a record number of pit-stops were seen, more than 80. Apart from the pit-stops, the race was almost made decisive in the pits when some teams were lousy. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren lost a podium finish chance when
his pit crew failed to take off his car’s front tyres.
The 2011 season continues in Spain on May 22. The Formula 1 teams will learn more about the degrading Pirelli rubber and try to come up with a better race strategy.
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