Pirelli are keen to remain in Formula 1 next season despite the heavy criticism it has encountered and the recent International Tribunal hearing in which it was reprimanded for carrying out a test with Mercedes.
The company’s motorsport director Paul Hembery says the Pirelli board are happy, and believes they’re just going through a difficult period.
“They [the board] are willing to invest going forward for quite a long term contract,” he said. “You have periods don’t you, little blips? So, we’ve had a little blip and now it’s back on with the racing.
“The promoter [FOM] is clearly on board, the majority of teams are now, and I’ve spoken to all the others teams here and we’re closing in on finishing that off. So if you’ve got all teams happy and the promoter happy then that’s clearly all we can do.”
It’s believed a new contract will be announced within the next two weeks after discussions took place with the FIA in Silverstone on Thursday.
Speaking about the future, Hembery confirmed they’d take a more conservative approach in 2014 because of the vast technical changes which the sport will undergo.
“It’s a year to probably be conservative because the challenges the teams will be telling you is going to be huge for them, and they’ve got enough on their plate without trying to manage some aggressive tyre strategies… it will be a year that we’ll take a few steps back.
“The compounds [will have] no degradation really, it may be a slower warm up, but then you can do 20, 30 laps. It’ll be more about the cars next year.”
