Plans to widen the rear tyres for next season have been scrapped according to Pirelli, which, along with Mercedes, proposed the idea because of the increased torque demands as a result of the turbo-charged engines.
Information provided to Pirelli by the Anglo-German engine manufacturer raised concerns that the rear tyres might not be able to cope under the increased stresses.
Mercedes – which reportedly has an engine advantage in the region of 80bhp over its rivals in the V6 development race – suggested they widen the rear-tyres to increase the contact patch.
The idea was floated with the other teams, but McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh ruled out the idea based on the wide-scale changes needed to accommodate bigger tyres, including a redesign of the gearboxes.
“That work [on the gearboxes] is now all but complete because, next to the chassis, it’s the component with the longest manufacturing lead time,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.
Therefore Pirelli have stuck with the current dimensions, but confirmed a change to the regulation would be made to allow different compounds front and rear.
“Based on the information we have received from most of the teams, we have decided to keep the same tyre dimensions.
“But as the cars of next year will make very different demands of the tyres, we have proposed that the regulations be amended so that the teams may use different compounds front and rear, should it be necessary.”
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