Economy not right for F1 tyre war - Pirelli

Pirelli is open to a tyre war in formula one but doubts the economic climate is right at present.

"At Pirelli we love competition," the Italian marque’s British motor sport director Paul Hembery told spox.com.

"But this is not a question for the moment," he explained, six races into Pirelli’s new three-year tenure as the sport’s sole supplier.

"We are in formula one to serve the teams and at the moment there are no other suppliers. It would mean shifting the development and that would cost money."

"And that’s money that, in the current difficult economic climate, no one wants to spend. Maybe that will change in the future, but currently we are only serving the needs of our customers," said Hembery.

He also acknowledged that this weekend in Canada, Pirelli’s wet-weather tyres might get their first real action of the season — particularly after a severe storm struck on Wednesday.

"Admittedly, we don’t have as much experience with our rain tyres as with the others," he said. "But that doesn’t mean we’re afraid of the water.

"On the contrary," insisted Hembery. "In Turkey there was a wet practice session and we got many valuable insights. Since then, we have even looked forward to our first rainy race."