18/04/2016
NEWS STORY
The Formula One Commission has agreed to Pirelli's demands over additional tyre testing.
The Italian manufacturer had set a 15:00 (BST) deadline today (Monday), by which time if the F1 Commission hadn't ratified its demands for testing aimed at the new rules to be introduced in 2017, it would walk away from the sport at the end of the year.
With the new rules aimed at creating higher cornering speeds and heavier loads, Pirelli had demanded a significant test programme with cars modified to simulate the new rules and leading drivers.
Already the whipping boy for most of what goes wrong - witness, the immediate aftermath of the incident involving Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen on Friday - the tyre manufacturer has no intention of leaving itself open to further criticsm should it not be fully prepared for the demands of the new rules.
"In practice, we are at the limit already," Pirelli Motorsport boss Paul Hembery told Motorsport.com in respect of finalising the test programme.
"There are only six months of work left in order to study and implement the whole thing, and it's not easy," he added. "The teams want a perfect tyre but week after week it is becoming less and less feasible. Our deadline is the end of April.
"If we cannot work as we want, it becomes impossible to deliver what is required of us," he claimed. "We do not want to put our name at risk for the sake of not having the tests nor information necessary to do a good job. We have already seen that if then there are problems, then it is our fault."
However, this afternoon F1 Commission and Strategy Group voted unanimously to approve the regulations, thereby allowing Pirelli get to work on its programme.
"It has been approved," confirmed a spokesperson for the FIA.