“There will be crashes,” George Russell warns F1 about removing tire blankets, says the sport isn’t ready for such drastic change
George Russell raised alarming concerns after testing blanket-free tires in Barcelona.
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George Russell (Images via PlanetF1)
Formula 1 has been floating around the idea of removing tire blankets completely. Originally, tire blankets were to be ditched for the 2024 F1 season before making rules changes to keep them for one more season. However, there is still a provision for the FIA to ban tire blankets. They will make the final decision in July. George Russell has come out and expressed his concern about the possibility of a ban.
Russell was one of the four drivers who took part in the Pirelli blanket-free tire test in Barcelona after the Spanish GP. Mick Schumacher, Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz were the other drivers at the test. The 25-year-old believed that the successful runs in Barcelona were an improvement, albeit more of a result of the track’s characteristics than the tires.
George highlighted that banning tire blankets could result in dangerous situations in the pitlane. This could potentially risk the lives of mechanics during pitstops as drivers try to get traction from the tires. Moreover, the Briton pointed out the concerning conditions drivers might face while on an out lap with a fresh tire set. He said, “There will be crashes, I have no doubt about it.”
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Pirelli blanket-free tires are at ‘a respectable level,’ says George Russell
Despite opposing the abandonment of tire blankets, Russell explained his running in Barcelona. The 25-year-old mentioned that the tires gained ideal temperature by turn 5 of the out lap on the circuit as the track had a temperature of over 40 degrees during the session. The Mercedes driver said, “It was at a respectable level.”
However, the concern remains for drivers such as George Russell or Charles Leclerc. Russell insists there is still a long way to go before such a call can be made in F1. As the sport is simply not in a position to ban tire blankets. Pirelli and F1 are working extensively to improve blanket-free tires. There will be one last test session for these tires before 2024 in Silverstone this year, including Red Bull and Haas.
Thus, George Russell has stated his concern about the idea of blanket-free tires in F1. The Briton affirmed that F1 cannot even consider such a possibility for now. Although with time, things could change. Perhaps the sport must conduct more sessions in cold conditions to understand how the tires could behave in such situations.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)