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#438836
Mercedes are citing 'safety' concerns for the 2017 changes that are needed to revitalize F1.

http://en.f1i.com/news/34386-mercedes-d ... qus_thread

"However, while publicly backing any changes Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has voiced concerns over the new regulations, saying there could be safety worries if Pirelli is unable to produce tyres which will allow cornering speeds to increase greatly."

"In response to the concerns from Mercedes, Boullier was blunt in his assessment of the motives behind the opposition to the regulations.

Asked if McLaren shares Mercedes’ concerns, Boullier replied: “Not really."

“I guess this is the usual game where you want to stop some changes so you just argue and going the safety way is pretty desperate from Mercedes.”
#438837
Correct me if I'm wrong; but, haven't we been down this road with Mercedes and Pirelli before?

Wasn't there a huge problem with tires exploding during a race (British GP, I think?) and Pirelli
was all about blaming the curbs or something?? That's why Pirelli ended up changing their tire
compound / structure? Weren't they steel before this race and then they ""had"" to change to
the Kevlar lining.

Of course, after that, just because they wanted to help out, Mercedes ""helped"" Pirelli by using
their current year car to ""help"" test the new tires, even though that was illegal.

Ah, yes... let's see what happens in the next installment of "As The Tire Turns"!!
#438845
Do we need two threads about this?

I don't see much to warrant the desperation accusation, pirelli tyres are already at their limits evident from what's happened this year and the regulations/procedures specified already in the name of safety so it's not unreasonable to consider the impact of increased cornering speeds on the tyres and whether pirelli are up to the job of providing tyres that can handle higher cornering forces as well as greater wear and temps.
It would be stupid to go into an era of new regulations without assurances that the tyres would be up to it.
Even if there is a bit of a game being played here, if pirelli can give assurances then there's no case but if there are any doubts then Merc do have a legitimate point.
#438846
...It would be stupid to go into an era of new regulations without assurances that the tyres would be up to it...


Just as it's stupid to go into an era of new turbo regulations without assurances that engine manufacturers were able to test their engines and all the bits and pieces needed.
But, that doesn't seem to have been a "safety" issue for Mercedes because they'd had years to work on theirs, whilst others were trying to win championships.
#438850
...It would be stupid to go into an era of new regulations without assurances that the tyres would be up to it...


Just as it's stupid to go into an era of new turbo regulations without assurances that engine manufacturers were able to test their engines and all the bits and pieces needed.
But, that doesn't seem to have been a "safety" issue for Mercedes because they'd had years to work on theirs, whilst others were trying to win championships.


What, has someone been building and supplying unsafe engines?
#438851
Do we need two threads about this?

I don't see much to warrant the desperation accusation, pirelli tyres are already at their limits evident from what's happened this year and the regulations/procedures specified already in the name of safety so it's not unreasonable to consider the impact of increased cornering speeds on the tyres and whether pirelli are up to the job of providing tyres that can handle higher cornering forces as well as greater wear and temps.
It would be stupid to go into an era of new regulations without assurances that the tyres would be up to it.
Even if there is a bit of a game being played here, if pirelli can give assurances then there's no case but if there are any doubts then Merc do have a legitimate point.


Well Pirelli have issued their assurances.

http://planetf1.com/news/pirelli-can-de ... r-seconds/

"Paul Hembery reckons by changing the size of the tyres and introducing proper testing Pirelli could lower F1's lap times by "four seconds."

"If you want to increase performance, we can do that," he told Autosport. "Just by the tyre size change we will probably gain two seconds.

"If you then gave us a proper testing programme, probably by the tyres alone, and with a natural evolution of the current car, we can deliver four seconds, and [the teams] won't need to do much else."


Mercedes was just doing their best to derail any meaningful change to the dismal state of F1. Of course this was behind closed doors. Their public media face was all about having us believe that Merc is open for any changes that would make F1 more competitive, in other words just a pack of lies! Thank you Mr. Boullier for the insight.

Now, with Wolff's 'safety' concerns debunked we will just await word of Mercedes next excuse to try and stop the sport from moving forward!
#438853
...It would be stupid to go into an era of new regulations without assurances that the tyres would be up to it...


Just as it's stupid to go into an era of new turbo regulations without assurances that engine manufacturers were able to test their engines and all the bits and pieces needed.
But, that doesn't seem to have been a "safety" issue for Mercedes because they'd had years to work on theirs, whilst others were trying to win championships.


What, has someone been building and supplying unsafe engines?


What's unsafe is the lack of testing, the lack of development, the lack of competition!
It's "unsafe" for the health of competition and F1! :wink:
#438854
I don't think it's a tyre safety issue, we had tyres that could cope with 1000hp cars almost 30 years ago and in general, those tyres were fine. So I can only make the assumption that Pirelli can make even better tyres with modern compounds and technology. I can't say that I blame Mercedes for protecting their advantage, I guarantee that Ferrari, Renault or Honda would be doing the same if they had the same advantage. It has always been part of F1 and always will be. Obviously the fans are the ones that lose out unless said fans happen to be fans of that team.
#438855
Toto's comments indeed were referring to Pirelli's ability to make safe tires.

Its Merc's support of more competition in public while in private they are doing all they can to scuttle the idea thats speaks volumes about their lack of credibility imo. Defending your position is one thing but just be honest about it.

"However, while publicly backing any changes Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has voiced concerns over the new regulations, saying there could be safety worries if Pirelli is unable to produce tyres which will allow cornering speeds to increase greatly.

“We believe it needs to be a competitive platform,” Wolff said. “We believe it needs more teams to be competitive, more teams to win races, it makes the whole thing more attractive to us. We have a good setup and good organisation and we will take on every challenge.

Pirelli can deliver lap time gain of up to 3s in 2017
“If it is more aero then we will take the challenge on as long as Pirelli is able to do tyres that can cope with that. If it is about changing some of the other regulations we will also be on board, it just needs to be reasonable.”

In response to the concerns from Mercedes, Boullier was blunt in his assessment of the motives behind the opposition to the regulations.

Asked if McLaren shares Mercedes’ concerns, Boullier replied: “Not really."

“I guess this is the usual game where you want to stop some changes so you just argue and going the safety way is pretty desperate from Mercedes.”
#438856
Boullier has bigger motives to be BSing than Toto, pirelli don't exactly have a good track record so far.
Really! Boullier calling Toto desperate lol.

Obviously the fans are the ones that lose out unless said fans happen to be fans of that team.

But they don't all look at it the same way.
#438859
... I can't say that I blame Mercedes for protecting their advantage, I guarantee that Ferrari, Renault or Honda would be doing the same if they had the same advantage. It has always been part of F1 and always will be. Obviously the fans are the ones that lose out unless said fans happen to be fans of that team.


The Voice of Reason!!
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#438869
... I can't say that I blame Mercedes for protecting their advantage, I guarantee that Ferrari, Renault or Honda would be doing the same if they had the same advantage. It has always been part of F1 and always will be. Obviously the fans are the ones that lose out unless said fans happen to be fans of that team.


The Voice of Reason!!
Image


Only one out of them all :)
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