Sebastian Vettel has admitted Pirelli made the right call by modifying its tyres for the Spanish Grand Prix, having originally been against the decision.
Pirelli reduced the tread depth of its tyres by 0.4mm to avoid excessive blistering on the new Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunta asphalt – and will do the same for Paul Ricard and Silverstone.
Vettel and his Ferrari team blamed their sudden performance drop on the specification change which forced Vettel to pit twice during the race, costing him a podium finish, whilst his rivals managed with just a single stop.
However Vettel admitted after the opening day of a two-day test at the same venue on Tuesday, that it was probably the right decision and Ferrari may have in fact been worse off with the regular tyres.
"Normally you don't get the chance to revisit these kind of decisions that are made," said the German. "But we did now with the day that we had today, and I think the result is that, if we had the normal tyres on Sunday, we'd probably even be worse off.
"So I think it was the correct call, and it was our fault not to have the same tyre wear or life as other people."
When Vettel's latest comments were put to Pirelli motorsport boss Mario Isola and asked if he felt vindicated by the change in attitude, he replied: "Absolutely. I am very happy, I cannot hide that I am very happy! After a weekend like the last one, yes."
Discussion about this post