F1 News: Pirelli Owns Up To Tire Problem After Lewis Hamilton Reports To F1 CEO

Saajan Jogia | Nov 5, 2024

2024 Bahrain Test, Day 3 - Lewis Hamilton / Jiri Krenek / Mercedes

Formula 1 tire supplier Pirelli has acknowledged that wet weather tires need improvement after seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton voiced his concerns to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali on live TV ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The race weekend in Brazil brought several schedule changes and a shakeup in the competitive order due to heavy rainfall, which led to the cancellation and postponement of the qualifying session to the following day. This prompted Hamilton to urge Stefano Domenicali to let drivers go out under such conditions, advocating for improved wet tires with tire blankets, which he believed would have allowed for safer runs even in low visibility. He said on F1TV:

“You should have sent us out. This is ridiculous, we should go out. I want to go out.

“Give us better wet tyres with blankets, we would be able to run in this.”

He jokingly added:

“I’m putting you on the spot!”

The statement from Hamilton was in response to the FIA's decision to cancel the qualifying session on Saturday. It read:

“Following the conditions in São Paulo today the decision was taken not to proceed with qualifying due to poor visibility, standing water on the track and fading light.

“Safety is always the paramount consideration in such circumstances and while as much time as possible was given to allow conditions to improve they sadly did not.”

Pirelli's Head of Motorsport Mario Isola acknowledged the need to improve wet weather tires and revealed that an upgraded version will be introduced in the 2025 season. He told Autosport, as reported by PlanetF1:

“It is true that we need to improve the performance of the wet tyre to generate a proper crossover with the intermediate.

“That’s our target.

“Next year we will have a new wet tyre with some small modifications, because unfortunately we didn’t have the possibility to have a proper test with the wet tyre on a high-severity circuit. That is exactly what we miss.

“We changed a little bit the tread pattern, worked on the construction and on a new compound. We found an improvement. I cannot tell you if it is enough or not.”

However, Isola clarified that FIA race director Niels Wittich's decision to postpone qualifying was due to other factors since qualifying in wet weather was still possible with the current tires. He explained:

“I don’t know why Niels decided not to give it the green light to the session, I don’t know if it is because of visibility, standing water, risk of aquaplaning, or any other element. I didn’t speak to Niels, so I have no information on that.

“If it’s just performance [on the wet tyre], it means that they go slower, that’s all. So the fastest of the slow cars is setting the best time.

“We are fully aware we have to improve the performance of the wet tyre. But you can run on these wet tyres, it’s not that you cannot run.”