Lewis Hamilton has called out F1’s tire suppliers, Pirelli for how difficult the current generation of tires are to deal with. The seven-time world champion called the tires “peaky” and explained how frustrating it is when the operational window of the tires is so narrow.
In response, Simone Berra who is Pirelli F1’s chief engineer has hinted at Mercedes being a problem and not their tires. Berra explained how the field has bunched up considerably in the latest regulations regime and as such the Silver Arrows cannot make the tires work that are causing Hamilton his issues.
Motorsport.com quoted him as saying, “Some teams are less able compared to others to extract the peak of performance. Part of it is the tire, yes honestly it is, but part of it is as well, the car, the suspension, and how the car is, exploiting the compound performance. So, it’s both factors.”
: Pirelli counters Lewis Hamilton’s claim that F1 tyres have the narrowest operating window ever. Hamilton expressed frustration after the Miami GP, but Pirelli’s Simone Berra argues that the closer competition in F1 highlights tyre sensitivity more than in the past. #F1… pic.twitter.com/W7oDwYQoby
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) June 3, 2024
Berra’s assessment of the field spread in 2024 is accurate. The teams have indeed bunched up and oftentimes just 1-1.5 seconds separates the entire grid of 20 drivers. However, Mercedes have failed to lean towards the front of the grid and fight with the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren.
McLaren could be treated as Mercedes’ closest benchmark in terms of comparison given how the latter is the engine supplier for the former. But, even the Woking-based team has pulled a gap to the Silver Arrows and is now gunning to be a championship rival for Red Bull.
Is Lewis Hamilton’s “peaky” Pirelli comments justified?
The #44 driver’s comments about the Pirelli’s tires came in the aftermath of the 2024 Miami GP. With how the race panned out for the ten teams, many other drivers shared the 39-year-old’s frustrations.
Drivers up and down the grid were struggling to get the Pirelli rubber in its optimum operating window. The likes of Red Bull also struggled, as Max Verstappen lost out to McLaren’s Lando Norris for the race win.
Mercedes average difference to the fastest qualifying lap in 2024 is 0.73 tenths.
Which puts Mercedes 5th fastest team in qualifying on average.
1 – Red Bull: 0.003%
2 – Ferrari: 0.35%
3 – McLaren: 0.50%
4 – Aston Martin: 0.67%
5 – Mercedes: 0.73%[@F1BigData] pic.twitter.com/wfzYITwiqe
— F1_MercHub (@F1MercHub) May 12, 2024
Hamilton had said after the Miami Grand Prix, “Honestly, it’s probably the most frustrating thing. You look back in the day when you had a much bigger working window to work with. Then you can just optimize the balance and then just have good grip throughout the whole lap. This is definitely my least favorite.”
Even McLaren seemed to struggle with the tires but eventually overcame their issues to clinch victory at the Miami International Autodrome. Thus, Mercedes need to figure out how they can mitigate their tire issues from their car concept perspective, as their criticism against Pirelli may become a moot point.
