07/05/2019
NEWS STORY
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner believes that this year, more than ever, tyres are influencing the sport too much, the Italian insisting that this is "not the right thing" for F1.
While his own team has seen its race performance seriously compromised by tyre issues, Steiner believes a number of factors, including the thinner treads introduced this year, are affecting a number of teams.
Following a strong start to the season in Melbourne, where Haas appeared to have staked its claim to being 'best of the rest', in the three subsequent races the American outfit has struggled, both drivers blaming their tyres.
Steiner however, insists it's not only his team which is being compromised by the slightly softer rubber and the move to thinner treads this year, after Pirelli tried them at a couple of races in 2018.
"Everybody's got issues with the tyres," he said, according to Motorsport.com. "It's just who is (suffering) more or less... and we are more. It's so disappointing because we've got a good car.
"We shouldn't be talking always about if the tyre works or not," he continued. "It's interesting but that's not Formula 1. 'Did you get the tyre to work? Yes, then I'm fast. Oh, my tyre didn't work, then I'm slow'.
"We spend millions and millions to develop these cars and then they are out of the tyre window and really cannot get going. I'm not blaming it purely on Pirelli. I'm blaming it on us as well because some get the tyres to work. But in general, this is not the right thing. We shouldn't be talking after the race, 'did your tyre work or not?'
"The construction of the tyre is different," he added, comparing this year's tyres to last year's, "the tread depth is not different, it's just last year they had the three races with the low tread, which doesn't store heat, that doesn't help our case. And we are not allowed to heat them the same amount as last year. It's all things which don't help you to get the tyre to work."