Pirelli has faced ‘impossible task’ in F1 – Toto Wolff

The “impossible task” Pirelli has faced needs to be taken into account when the 2020-23 supplier is chosen, according to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

Pirelli has been Formula 1’s sole supplier since 2011, during which period the company has faced criticism for producing tyres that both degrade too highly and do not degrade enough.

In the current era of regulations Pirelli has striven to nominate compounds that results in divergent strategies, with one- or two-stops possible during race trim.

But it has still frequently come under attack for the durability and usability of its compounds, and Wolff believes the company has taken flak for merely sticking to its brief.

RelatedPosts

How the Austrian GP cemented F1 2025 as a two-horse race

9 hours ago

Toto Wolff: Kimi Antonelli’s ‘unfortunate’ Austria F1 error ‘can happen to the greats’

10 hours ago

“Pirelli has been with us for a long time and a stable partner,” said Wolff.

“They have been given an impossible task that whatever specification we ask for and they deliver, it’s not as good as it should be so Mario [Isola] has stood firm with the teams complaining.

“Pirelli’s a great brand and a pillar of the sport and that needs to be considered, obviously, and the teams have no say in that.

“It is a commercial and political decision that’s going to be taken by FOM [Formula One Management].

“They need to look at the numbers, they need to look at the brand values and on the impact that a new tyre supplier can have versus the one that we know.

“I’d like to leave it with them, but we’ve worked with Pirelli really well over the past years.”

Pirelli faces competition from Hankook for the right to supply tyres from 2020-23, and only one company will be chosen.

Both organisations passed the technical and safety requirements as stipulated by the FIA and are now involved in commercial discussions with Liberty Media.

“As you know, we just finished the technical side of what is called phase one,” said Isola, who fronts Pirelli’s Formula 1 programme.

“We received confirmation from FIA that we are technically eligible to supply tyres for Formula 1 – it’s not a surprise, honestly – and now there is the commercial discussion with F1.

“There is no deadline for that so I cannot tell you how long it will last. They summarise very well what we did in the last eight years. We always tried to deliver what we have been asked to deliver.”

Liberty Media will put forward its final decision for the FIA World Motor Sport Council to ratify either at its October or December meeting.