Max Verstappen’s team, Red Bull, might be the masters of pitstop, but not everyone else. And at times, a bad pitstop becomes the deal breaker for a prospective win.
Therefore, the drivers must present their best every time for tyre management. Since 2011, Pirelli has been the sole tyre provider to all F1 teams. Even their predecessors, Bridgestone, had a four-year stint in the sport.
But before that, there used to be tyre wars. Mainly between Michelin and Bridgestone. Where both companies used to bring the optimal performance of tyres by reducing the tyre wear, and it used to be hell expensive.
The fastest pit stop in F1 history was done in 1.82 seconds. It takes a team of 20 people, perfectly synchronized to achieve a time of this caliber. But here’s the thing, it’s not just about the pit stop itself, it’s about the preparation that goes into it. pic.twitter.com/oQz0yybaJX
— David Kyle Choe (@davidkylechoe) January 12, 2023
But that’s not the case anymore, with Pirelli being the single provider to every side. They can choose to keep things at the bare minimum and have rather decreased the durability of tyres to increase pitstops to add more spice to the race.
Also read: Ex-F1 Champion Mika Hakkinen Speaks Against Max Verstappen’s F1 Schedule Suggestion
Max Verstappen wants Pirelli to make it a bit easy for drivers
While the pitstops are a massive deal in every race strategy and also make things enticing for the fans, Verstappen thinks it takes a toll on drivers. Therefore he wants Pirelli to take it easy with the drivers.
He claims that since there are no tyre wars in the sport, Pirelli can allow drivers to relax even then, as in the tyre war, drivers had it easier because of the tyre sustainability.
“When you don’t have a tyre war, you take it easy. It still costs a lot of money, don’t get me wrong, but you don’t need to find another two or three-tenths,” said Verstappen.
Improve the wet tyres
The Dutch race driver has also remarked about improving the wet tyres in the sport. During the Japanese Grand Prix, teams still went for intermediate tyres instead of wet tyres when the race conditions were too wet.
This unanimous decision by the teams only hinted at the lack of reliability teams have on the extreme wet tyres. When asked about it, Verstappen claimed there is a scope for improvement, and he would like to sit with Pirelli to discuss it.
He admits that Pirelli has been in the sport for a long time and has made massive investments. So, he recognizes the value they bring. Hence the Red Bull star would help him out for the sake of better racing.
Also read: Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris Chose Max Verstappen Over Lewis Hamilton
