Pirelli threatens to quit F1

Formula One's sole tyre supplier Pirelli has warned that it is set to step out of the sport if the rule makers fail to decide on tyre testing plans. The Italian company says a quick decision is vital for the company to be able to prepare tyres for the 2017 rule set.

The company's motorsport director Paul Hembery was quoted as saying there would not be enough time to prepare new, wide tyres that are planned to be introduced along with a raft of regulation changes set to increase cornering speeds of Formula One cars.

Pirelli, having already won the tender to supply the sport's tyres from 2017 to 2019 is still waiting to see its deal ratified by the FIA.

“When I land (in Europe after the Chinese Grand Prix), if I don’t have an email confirming it’s approved, or something else positive, then you will be calling me for a different story,” said Hembery.

“This is it. We cannot do our job without this. We cannot deliver. We are being asked to make very significant changes, by changing the driveability of the tyres.”

“There are big changes happening. We are being asked to make big changes, the drivers are asking for change – and yet we are being left without the tools to do it. People can argue we don’t need to test, but we do,” said Hembery.

Testing has always been a difficult item to get agreement on, as teams are anxious to drop behind when allowing other teams to test, while not willing to spend too much on tyre testing that cannot give themselves an advantage.

It has recently emerged however that some are lobbying against the planned 2017 set of regulations. This may be stalling an agreement on testing as well, as a cancellation of the rule changes will make additional tyre testing unnecessary.

As always, it is turning into a political game that is doing little to the benefit of the sport.