Martin Brundle warns F1 against the removal of tire blankets, indicates the sport would become less exciting
Martin Brundle feels there are a lot of pros of continuing with tire blankets in F1.
Martin Brundle (Credits: SportsKeeda) and Tire Blankets (Credits: GP Blog
The pinnacle of motor racing has witnessed many changes in recent seasons and is in the pipeline. One of these mega-change is the controversial decision to ban tire blankets. But Sky Sports Analyst Martin Brundle has asked F1’s hierarchy not to ban the use of tire blankets from 2024 onwards. He ardently feels if the concept of tire blankets is removed, the sport could become less exciting.
To add more weight to his suggestion, Martin Brundle has talked about the qualifying session of the 2023 Canadian GP. He has indicated that the changing weather conditions on Saturday resulted in a slightly mixed-up order on the grid, with some drivers benefitting from a well-timed tire change while others did not.
Brundle has shown his full support in favor of tire blankets. While shedding light on the same, he said, “A wet, albeit temporarily almost dry, qualifying served up some thrills and surprises for a nicely scrambled grid; there was a two-lap window to fit dry tires in Q2 which the likes of Alex Albon in his Williams and a few of the other usual suspects anticipated well, but Sergio Perez in his Red Bull and Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari simply did not.”
“Nobody will venture out on cold slicks in anything like those conditions, and nor will they in a race either until it’s certain they can stay on the track and generate heat rather than smash the cars to pieces.” The 64-year-old veteran of the sport has made it clear why he does not want to see the removal of tire blankets in F1.
Martin Brundle wants F1 to look at other options in its pursuit of becoming eco-friendly
Martin Brundle being a former motorsports driver and being associated with the sport for several years in multiple capacities, is well aware of the significance of tire blankets. Keeping this in view, he wants the sport’s hierarchy to look at its other options to become environment-friendly.
While stating his views on the matter, he said, “There are better ways to be environmentally friendly rather than fuelling an F1 car for a few extra laps to heat the tires every run rather than directly applying a very efficient blanket system which heats specifically the tire and wheel.” While Brundle has spoken in favor of tire blankets, the reaction in the F1 paddock has been a bit mixed.
Some people favor keeping them in the sport, while some think that F1 needs to move away from them to keep evolving and taking everything that has happened around tire blankets into consideration.
In case you missed it:
- Carlos Sainz admits that Ferrari won’t achieve stability in the near future despite positive result at Canadian GP
- Ralf Schumacher snubs Sergio Perez, claims Fernando Alonso will be Max Verstappen’s biggest threat at Austrian GP
Rishabh Negi
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