Hamilton: F1 needs better tyres to improve racing

Lewis Hamilton has called on Formula 1 to put requirements in place to deliver better tyres which can help improve racing in the future.

After the F1 teams overwhelmingly rejected Pirelli’s 2020 tyres and voted to keep last year’s compounds for the upcoming season, the sport is already preparing for all-new 18inch tyres in 2021.

Pirelli has been working closely with F1 management to deliver tyres which improve racing between cars, the primary goal of the wider 2021 rules overhaul, but Hamilton has grown frustrated at the unsuccessful earlier efforts.

“Racing is what needs to improve. I think reduce aero and give us better tyres. That’s a very, very important line there. We need better tyres,” Hamilton said.

“We’ve been talking for years and years and years about tyre degradation, thermal degradation and we’ve sat in the meeting room with Pirelli in Brazil and [they say] that’s the first time we hear about it.

“We’re trying to communicate with them better. The target letter, I don’t know who has written it for this year but they obviously didn’t do a good job for the 2020 tyres. But I hope for 2021 that we have a better target and one that they are able to meet.”

F1 teams and drivers are also unhappy with the tyre pressures increasing, with Pirelli insisting it must be enforced as a safety and performance measure. With the 2020 F1 cars finding greater performance from downforce improvements, Pirelli is set to up the minimum tyre pressures to ensure its compounds can deal with the additional load.

Hamilton believes the measure isn’t necessary but is eager to work with Pirelli to deliver better tyres for the future.

“I think on the tyre scenario, they brought 2020 tyres which were worse. It’s easier for us to go into another season with the same tyres,” he explained.

“The fact that they pump them up more isn’t so great because they were fine last year but they are definitely way too inflated.

“We always want to make sure that we are working with the best technology and partners moving forwards. We’ve just got to keep on pushing them to try and do better. I think these tyres will be okay for this year.”