The majority of teams are against the idea of Pirelli introducing Q3 only qualifying tyres in a bid to spice up the pole position shoot-out.
With tyres now playing a decisive role in the outcome of a race, teams are opting not to send their cars out in the final session in order to save tyres, a strategy which has been criticised by fans.
Whilst Pirelli support the idea, and in fact say they’re ready to introduce a fourth set of tyres to be used on Saturday only with almost immediate effect, the teams haven’t taken to the idea.
Williams team principal and co-owner Sir Frank Williams believes the idea could potentially be a good one from a fans perspective, but says it would benefit the ‘weaker’ teams who ‘shouldn’t be in F1’ if they can’t work around the current limit.
“I think it’s probably a good idea from the point of view that it maybe gives all teams a better chance,” he said on Friday in Monaco
He added: “If you’re a really skilful team with a brilliant engineer to run and control things, and you’ve only got three sets of tyres, you’ll always get the best. If you haven’t got such a person, you’re always going to be at a handicap. If there’s a fourth set, it may help out one of the weaker members. If there’s an extra bob or two involved in running those tyres, maybe you shouldn’t be in F1.”
Meanwhile Sauber’s Monish Kaltenborn made her stance on the idea clear: “We’ve had many discussions, I think, amongst the teams last year about the tyre situation in qualifying,” she said. “We think the rule we have now is OK.
“We also wouldn’t be supporting extra tyres, and I think even if you look at the statistics that the amount – when teams do their strategies and don’t go out in Q3 – as most of these teams have anyway been doing a lot more laps earlier, so I don’t think it would really change much for the viewer. That’s what the figures say, at least.”
Ross Brawn took a similar stance, adding that he would only support an additional set of tyres if their was clear evidence that the fans were behind it.
“Of course people are here to see cars run and even when there’s some teams that don’t go out, you’ve got six or seven cars still competing hard for pole position,” he said.
“The teams that don’t go out generally have resigned themselves to the fact that they can’t compete for those positions right at the front, and I think those teams, being able to save their tyres, is in some way a compensation for their performance in the first part of the race.
“So it does give an extra decision and extra opportunity for the teams perhaps in eighth to tenth to save a set of tyres and be stronger in the early part of the race.
“There are two sides to every coin and is the show spoilt by the fact that some of the cars at the back of Q1 don’t run? I’m not sure it is. I think everyone’s focused on what the guys fighting for pole are doing. But if there was genuine proof that the fans want ten cars running all the time in Q3 then we’d accept some extra tyres.”
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