Montreal [Canada], June 24 : Formula 1 team principals voiced mixed feelings over the decision to remove tyre blankets, which will be applicable from the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Tyre blankets enable teams to heat their tyres to 70*C for two hours before a session, providing drivers with a better grip at the start of a race or when coming out of the pits.
As per the official website of Sky Sports, "In a bid to improve sustainability, Pirelli has been developing tyres that do not need pre-warming. Blanket-free wet tyres were introduced earlier this season - and raced for the first time at the Monaco GP - while drivers have been testing the dry-tyre versions."
As per Sky Sports, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team principal Toto Wolff said, "At the end, we want a good show and we need to listen to the drivers and see what all their opinions are. I tend to agree with the drivers that why are we making experiments that can potentially create a safety hazard?
He added, "What is it we want to achieve? Risk and reward - my understanding in my life is that risk and reward need to be well measured and I don't think there is a great reward in making experiments with Formula 1 cars with drivers in there for the fun of it."
According to the official website of Sky Sports, Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows is more positive about the proposal, saying, "From my point of view, I think the overarching idea of it is sound. I think there is a great push towards sustainability in F1 and making sure that we don't have to carry excess baggage around the world and use more energy than we absolutely have to. So I think it's absolutely laudable what they're doing. And I think the idea is absolutely sound."
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said he would "reserve judgement" on the decision until after Daniel Ricciardo has conducted the test at Silverstone next month, but suggested the focus should instead be on finding sustainable ways to power the tyre warmers.
"I don't think it's what the drivers want. Let's reserve judgement until we've done a test ourselves," Horner said.
While concluding Horner said, "But my fear with these things is that when you think you're going to achieve something simplistically that would create better racing, that there will then be a whole load of effort go into trying to heat tyres very quickly, on out-laps and so on, that could drive a lot more cost in."
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