As the debate over ways of spicing up the Sunday action continues, Pirelli's Mario Isola admit that F1 bosses want to keep things simple.

Ironically, his comment comes at a time the likes of Tot Wolff have questioned the complexity of Sprint weekends.

In terms of spicing things up and introducing variety, in recent years much of the focus has been on tyres.

The days of drys (slicks) and wets a distant memory, over the years we have seen all manner of combinations before the sport finally settled on hard, medium and soft, but even then one weekend's hard can be the equivalent of following weekend's medium.

If one positive thing has come out of the Sprint weekends it is the uncertainty when drivers are given free choice for the race, however, thus far F1 bosses have made little of this.

Asked if the sport has given any consideration to drivers being forced to use all three compounds on race day, Pirelli's Mario Isola says that such a move would see the teams using similar strategies.

"It was discussed a couple of years ago and the conclusion was that forcing the drivers to use the three compounds, the result can be that everybody is just converging on the same strategy.

"Any time that you give more constraint, you have everybody doing the same," he added, "that is not in the spirit of what we want to achieve.

"It means a mix of one and two-stop strategies using the three different compounds and so on and so on, not having everybody stopping at the same lap and changing the tyres using the same sequence of compounds.

"That's why the idea was abandoned a couple of years ago," he admitted. "Obviously it is something we can discuss for the future - but I believe that, as I said, we need a regulation that is easy to understand also for spectators. Obviously encouraging different strategies but not making too much complicated with a lot of different constraints and so on, and so on. That's probably the target for the future."

Fact is, for the most part the strategies are pretty similar anyway, and while some teams may opt to undercut or overcut, the opposition usually reacts within a lap or two.

Even so, fans want to see races decided on track, possibly by hard-battling and overtakes, as opposed to strategy calls over tyres.

Of course, another option would be to introduce some additional tyre suppliers.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 21/09/2021 23:33

"With F1 joining the 21st century as far as tyre/wheel sizes go it's about time that Michelin returned to the fold. They make superb racing tyres...just ask Mark Webber how good they are. "

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2. Posted by BillH, 21/09/2021 9:19

"I like a tyre war, though it would be very difficult for a new manufacturer to come into the sport now due to cost and lack of testing.
I'm not sure how difficult it would be for there to be the same regs now for tyres but with two or more brands.

"

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3. Posted by kenji, 21/09/2021 7:01

"@ Tokyo Aussie.... I think that you'll find that the new front wings attached to the '22 cars will be a start to what you are suggesting."

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4. Posted by TokyoAussie, 21/09/2021 3:22

"Or, we could focus on what everybody agrees is the problem. Those massive front wings and the aero they generate. Heaven forbid."

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5. Posted by Superbird70, 21/09/2021 2:30

"@kenji, I agree. Limit comms, reduce the number of sensors on the cars by say 50%,and eliminate all communication from the pits back to the factory. Keep It Simple Simon."

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6. Posted by kenji, 20/09/2021 23:41

"@ Superbird70...that's quite a good suggestion. Over the years we've seen all this interference introduced into F1 and now, on reflection, it's far too closely controlled. Engineering innovation makes the world go round. There's lot to be said for simplicity of choice for advanced technical solutions. Apart from the tyres just contemplate the massive number of comms where drivers are moaning every lap about other drivers pushing or making life hard for them! It's ridiculous. Serious infractions will be looked at by the Stewards anyway. What we need are more freedoms for the teams and the drivers then we may see who are the winners and who are the losers."

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7. Posted by Superbird70, 20/09/2021 17:21

"I would go one step further. Save for the wets and intermediates, there should only be three total tire compounds available throughout the year. If they can't make at least one of the tire choices work on each of the 20 odd tracks what are they wasting their money on?"

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8. Posted by kenji, 20/09/2021 13:43

"F1 is in danger of trying to be all things to all people and is failing badly. There needs to be simplicity. It's not difficult. Let the teams decide on two compounds out of three choices and let the teams decide if they want to attempt tyre changes when if they decide to do so. Mandating that they use two different compounds is quite silly. Leave it to the teams...."

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F1 aiming to keep tyre rules simple

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