No unfair Pirelli advantage for Lotus - Wurz

Alex Wurz has played down suggestions Lotus has an unfair advantage over its formula one rivals in 2013.

Since Pirelli scrapped its outdated 2009 Toyota test car, it has been developing the sport’s control tyres at the wheel of a 2010 Renault single seater.

The R30 was built by the Lotus team at Enstone for the 2010 season, when it was the Renault works team.

So some have suggested that Pirelli’s 2013 tyres suit the Melbourne-winning black and red E21 best of all, because the R30 and Lotus’ 2013 machine share the same basic design philosophy.

"It’s obvious that the Pirelli tyres are designed for this type of car," Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko said last month.

"The Lotus of today has the same DNA."

Former Williams driver and Austrian Wurz, however, thinks that argument is invalid.

"Each team could have made a test car available to Pirelli," he told Spox. "But no one else wanted to.

"I don’t think they (Lotus) get a benefit," added Wurz.

"These are standard tyres; everyone has the same number of tests, the same amount of time to adjust to them and develop.

"They’re all dealing with the same problem, which is trying to outsmart the competition and find an advantage.

"It’s an opportunity, not a disadvantage."