After the Aston Martin and Red Bull burst tires at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Pirelli concluded that one of the factors behind the incidents was that the teams did not operate the tires at the expected level of pressure.
For this reason, the FIA has revised the tire control procedures for the race this weekend in France. The tires are now checked after running on cars to make sure the teams are running them at a high enough level.
Given the suspicion that some teams have found ways not to put their tires up as much as others while running, Wolff believes things weren’t the same before.
“I think we just want a level playing field,” he said of Pirelli, who further increased the tire pressure for the French GP this weekend.
“It’s not about whether it goes up and down. But when someone is able to get two or three pounds out of a tire while running, obviously there is no level playing field. “
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Mercedes firmly believes that it has never played around with the printing itself and has always followed the procedures that Pirelli put in place at each event.
“We always went to the limits that Pirelli set us,” said Wolff. “And the logic is that when we start with the regulations there is only one direction and that is up in terms of tire pressure.
“There is no way down. We were always on the right side when it came to the legality issue. “
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, whose car cost Max Verstappen an almost certain victory, has questioned the effects of the new FIA stance – and points out that there are still uncertainties.
“They don’t really change the way we work, but it’s the same for everyone,” he said.
“There are a lot of words that don’t say much, but it’s more of an administrative matter than anything. And I think we’ve always followed Pirelli’s guidelines and FIA rules. We will continue to do that. “
However, he expected that there could still be problems with tire operation in the race in the future – especially in changeable conditions.
“I think it’s good that the FIA ultimately takes it seriously because safety is their responsibility. And these guidelines exist for a reason.
“But the difficulty with all of these things is: How do you deal with a wet / dry race, how do you deal with such scenarios?”
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