Vijay Mallya claims safety concerns exaggerated – Formula 1 news
At a time when most of the teams are criticising the Pirelli rubber following safety concerns, Force India boss Vijay Mallya has defended the tyre manufacturers saying that the entire situation is over-hyped.
During the previous round of the 2013 Formula 1 season in Great Britain, some of the drivers found themselves in an awkward situation, when their left rear tyres burst on the straights without any signs of major graining on them.
After the end of the race, top teams like Red Bull and Ferrari claimed that their drivers could have been hurt badly because of the outrageous situation created at the Silverstone circuit.
However, Mallya said, “Other than the car behind and the driver who might get a bit startled with the sudden explosion in front, it really isn't a major safety issue from that point of view. We didn't see cars wildly spinning off and crashing into the barriers.”
He went onto say, “We are having no issue, so why should we make other people’s issues our issues? But there is no question of this team being irresponsible in any way, and objecting for the sake of objecting to any proposed change that impacts on safety
in Formula One - no question.”
Force India have been highly competitive this year, as their drivers Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta have been scoring points with consistency. Unlike most of the other teams, they have managed the tyres well, thus have been able to stay ahead of McLaren
in the Constructor’s Championship.
The Silverstone-based squad was in a great position during the British GP, as their drivers managed to qualify higher on the grid compared to their rivals. Di Resta was unlucky though, as he was demoted to the back of the field following a penalty after
the qualifiers.
Despite that, the local hero ended up in ninth place, which would have been quite pleasing for him.
Although Force India will be strong in the upcoming German GP, they might suffer a blow once the tyres are changed to 2012 specification. Even if their performance stays consistent, their rivals will get an opportunity to make an improvement and bridge the
gap to them.
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