Pirelli motorsport boss Mario Isola has hit back at criticism of the tyres insisting other factors contributed to the conservative approach to races in Formula 1 this season.
As part of an effort to increase strategy options for teams, the Italian supplier went softer with their compounds in 2018 and also introduced a new Hypersoft tyre for street or low-grip circuits.
The impact, however, was different: “Faced with the problem of the 21 or 22 seconds that it costs to do a pit stop, the teams have preferred to slow down the drivers,” Isola told France’s Auto Hebdo.
“It’s not just because of the tyres. There are other limitations including the engine and fuel consumption and so on.
“Personally, I would like to see the drivers attack more.”
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Rounded efforts are underway between teams, drivers and Pirelli to try and improve the racing with the different parties working together on allocating compounds to each race next year.
There is another option that has been touted previously but Isola doubts it would help.
“The regulations could impose a minimum of two stops, but there is a good chance that everyone would stop at the same time,” he said.
“It’s a complex problem that is not easy to understand. Every decision we make must be accurately evaluated.
“We had discussions with the drivers and the teams on this subject, as well as the FIA and FOM, but nobody has a miracle solution.”