Pirelli’s motorsport chief Mario Isola is hoping the Italian tyre supplier can agree a new contract to produce Formula 1 rubber beyond the current deal which expires in 2019.
Since returning in 2011, the company has regularly been in the spotlight due to some concerns some have expressed over the quality both of their slick and wet compounds.
Nevertheless, Pirelli insists they remain fully committed to F1 and now want to continue as the sole supplier, likely until 2022 with their past contracts all lasting three years in length.
“I am sure we will start discussing the new contract because it’s not a secret that Mr Tronchetti [Provera, Pirelli CEO] said we want to continue,” Isola told F1 Fanatic. “There are a lot of new ideas, a lot of plans.”
The opportunity to work with managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn is also enthusing Pirelli to stay on, as he tests out ideas to improve the racing from 2021 onwards.
“Now that he is in FOM, Liberty, he has a team of people working with him. We are very well connected with them so when they need data when they need analysis for the future, we work together,” Isola said.
Also Read:
- Pirelli expecting dramatic fall in lap-times in 2018
- Pirelli confident new expanded tyre range will not confuse F1 fans
- Hamilton: New HyperSoft “the best tyre Pirelli has produced”
One thing Pirelli isn’t keen on, however, is a return to the tyre wars of the 2000’s believing that doing so would be detrimental to competition and raise costs.
“At the moment, we supply the same product to all teams. So we put all the teams on the same level, in terms of tyres,” the motorsport boss said at the Autosport International event recently.
“If you open competition, you increase the costs because you need to test and you will have top teams with a better product compared to the midfield or lower teams as you don’t have any obligation to supply the same tyres to everybody.”