Schumacher critical of Pirelli

23/04/2012

Michael Schumacher has criticised Pirelli claiming that the high degradation on its 2012 tyres is spoiling races.

Fact is, when Pirelli secured the deal to supply the sport after Bridgestone's withdrawal, the Italian company's brief was to produce tyres which would have a high wear rate and thereby increase the uncertainty, thereby adding to the spectacle. However, like so many other things done to the sport in recent years, including KERS and DRS, many see it as a gimmick, means of manipulating the racing especially after fans grew weary during the years of Schumacher/Ferrari domination.

Speaking in the wake of yesterday's Bahrain Grand Prix in which he struggled to pick up the sole remaining point, Schumacher argued that in terms of tyres the sport has gone too far.

"I had to drive at a pace to manage the tyres to finish with tyres left over," said the German, according to the BBC. "We should question whether that should be the case. It's unsatisfying and not what a Formula One event should be.

"If 80 or 90% complain, maybe Pirelli should think about it," he added. "I don't think it is right only one or two teams can handle it and the rest struggle so much."

Having spiced up the racing in 2011, this year, its second season back in F1, Pirelli has gone even further, reducing the performance gap between the four different dry compounds on offer.

So far, so good, however, the teams complain that they are having difficulty understanding the new compounds particularly in terms of temperatures. consequently, we have seen fluctuating performances team to team and driver to driver, with some claiming that tyres are now more important that aero.