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Controversy brewing over tires once again as Pirelli changes the thickness off the tread layer by .04mm at the request of the Merc team after Barcelona testing .
Other teams are upset because the change is meant to reduce overheating , which was most acute at Mercedes where they saw heavy blistering when running on the newly laid track surface .
I think they may have a point because this was pushed through for what were called safety reasons , but Mercedes were the only ones to complain .
First thing I've heard about this so far.
Anyway, are you sure that it's 0.04 mm and not 0.4 mm? 0.4 mm is very little, but 0.04 mm is practically nothing.
Edit: a quick Google search says 0.4 mm. Also: https://drivetribe.com/p/pirelli-aid...QiGQhy8R5w3DOw
McLaren says :“We have no problems with blisters ...".
Ricciardo says :“Our car treats the tyres more gently than the Mercedes."
An RB boss says :“Why should we change the tyres if Mercedes has a problem? You have to see for yourself how you manage the tyres.“
You're right . It is .4mm , but that's not insignificant as you suggest .
No others asked for it to be considered .
OK, just found the news in Autosport: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13...ed-f1-circuits
The funny thing is that there's no mention whatsoever of Mercedes in the Autosport article. I would imagine that this is something that Pirelli wanted done and it's got the side effect of benefitting Merc, but I would call BS on the mention that it's done specifically for helping one particular team.
In "the case of the missing rubber" , the twist is that if you are not that "particular team" , you can use the information to protest the change now , or quietly exploit the idea that this particular team's weakness might be that it tortures it's tires .
Having already mentioned it in the press means that if that exploitation doesn't go as planned , one can point to it later as a protest is employed .
Reports quoting Bottas had him working hard to keep from blistering , so it does seem an Achilles heel .