Team vote rules out mid-season F1 tyre change

Formula 1 will not revert to Pirelli’s 2018 tyre specification after a team vote to push through a mid-season change failed to gain sufficient traction.

A number of teams have been pushing for F1 to go back to last season’s thicker-tread compound construction, with Red Bull and Ferrari believing that the tweaked thinner-gauge tyres introduced for this year have favoured Mercedes.

Mercedes is one of the few teams not to have struggled with performance-related issues this season, having won the opening eight races of the campaign to open up a comfortable lead in both world championships.

For a mid-season switch to be permitted, at least seven of the 10 teams would have had to lobby for the change. Alternatively, the FIA can authorise such a change based on extenuating circumstances including safety grounds.

Team principals and officials met in the Spielberg paddock on Friday morning ahead of opening practice for the Austrian Grand Prix to discuss the matter, but the meeting failed to hit the required seven votes. 

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed the news on the team's official Instagram account, saying: "We had a discussion on the 2019 tyres, whether we change the specification of the tyre or not.

Asked if there would be a change, Wolff replied: "No, no change for this year."