Pirelli: F1 tyre blanket ban would not lead to sunshine chicanery

Formula 1 authorities are considering a ban on tyre warmers from 2025, despite previous unsuccessful attempts to enforce such a rule change.

The reasoning behind this move is to eliminate the need for teams to transport and use tyre blankets during race weekends, which is expected to have significant environmental benefits.

While various other international motorsport series operate without tyre blankets, this change could open the door for teams to explore alternative tyre-warming strategies.

Recently, the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) was embroiled in controversy amid allegations that teams were using sunlight to heat their tyres, potentially violating rules stipulating measures to raise tyre temperatures above ambient levels.

Reports suggested that teams were leaving their garage doors open, positioning tyres to capture direct sunlight, or even placing tyres on grid trolleys early and leaving them outdoors in the pitlane. 

Some teams were said to be using makeshift tyre tents made of black tarpaulin as mini ovens to increase tyre temperatures.

Despite such practices occurring in other racing categories, Pirelli's head of car racing, Mario Isola, believes that these tactics will not succeed in Formula 1. 

He cites the intricate nature of tyre temperature management in F1 and the strict enforcement of regulations as strong deterrents for teams considering such strategies.

"If I look at F1, they are quite strict with regulations," Isola said. 

"In GT, where obviously regulations are not so strict, you can have any kind of invention to warm the tyre before going on track.

"Some of these systems like hot boxes can be quite good, but I remember in the past they were not because you would have one tyre at 100 degrees, and the last one at 40 degrees. So, it was a disaster.

"Or you can have teams warming the tyres in the sun. But if you expose the tyres to the sun, you have also other side effects, like the UV rays. They can have an impact on the compound and not all the tyres in the set are at the same temperature or in same conditions."

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