F1: Pirelli hits back at Hamilton's tire claims

(GMM) Mario Isola has hit back at Lewis Hamilton’s claim that Pirelli is wasting excessive amounts of wet-weather Formula 1 tires after every race.

Hamilton was among the critics of the new and more sustainable tire allocation system that was trialed last weekend in Hungary, as he argued that it only led to less track action.

Pirelli Rain Tires outside of the Pirelli motorhome during the Spanish GP at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Thursday June 01, 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Mark Sutton / LAT Images) — Pirelli Rain Tires outside of the Pirelli motorhome during the Spanish GP at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Thursday, June 01, 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Mark Sutton / LAT Images)

The Mercedes driver said a better idea would be to fix an alarming situation with the rain tires – where they are thrown out after a race if not used.

“There’s a lot of wet tires that I think they throw away after every weekend. Like, a lot,” said the seven time world champion.

“Maybe they should look at something like that rather than taking time on track away from the fans.”

But Isola, Pirelli’s F1 boss, says Hamilton seems not to have all the details.

“At the European races, we leave the (dry) tires on the rims and take the new ones with us, supplying the teams with the same sets,” he said.

“With overseas races it is more difficult,” Isola admitted. “Because of the customs rules, the teams have to take the rims, and we have to bring the tires.

“And that’s a problem because once a tire is off the rim, it can’t be reused.”

Isola explained that because of the use of tire blankets, which could soon be banned in Formula 1, damage to a single tire means scrapping an entire set.

“Rain tires don’t have this problem as they don’t use tire blankets right now, so we only need to replace one tire in a set of four. So it’s great to save money on that.”

He also said Pirelli is interested in redesigning the tires so that they are able to be safely removed from wheel rims after one race and put back on at the next.

“Another idea that we have discussed was for races that are usually dry and sunny, like Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, not to fit all the tires to the rims,” said Isola.

On Friday, the F1 Commission meets at Spa-Francorchamps where a decision about whether to proceed with the 2024 tire blanket ban will be made.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, the outcome of that decision could impact whether Pirelli remains F1’s tire supplier in 2025 or the baton is handed over to Bridgestone.