Red Bull fears avoided with new Pirelli construction - Christian Horner

Verstappen in Austria — Photo: © LAT Images

Austrian Grand Prix

Red Bull fears avoided with new Pirelli construction - Horner

Pirelli is set to green light the changed construction's Silverstone debut

Sam Hall

Saturday 3 July 2021 08:00

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes the latest Pirelli offering of tyre construction has steered clear of creating an unwanted mid-season variable in the F1 title race.

With the slightest difference in temperature or pressure having a sizeable effect on the way a car performs on its tyres, the introduction of an entirely new construction from Pirelli prompted fears the championship picture could be altered.

However, after testing prototype tyres - aimed for competitive introduction at Silverstone next time out - during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday, Horner revealed that feedback from drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have allayed his concerns.

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“I think first of all, credit to Pirelli that they have reacted quickly following Azerbaijan and brought prototype tyres here," he said.

"The initial response from the drivers was pretty benign that it didn’t feel too different to what they had previously had so hopefully that is a positive thing.

“What we would hate at this time of the year would be a variable to be introduced that favoured one team or the other.

“From what we could see and in the short amount of running we did there was nothing untoward.”

Pirelli softest compound "pretty racy"

With F1 racing at the Red Bull Ring twice in as many weeks, Pirelli has moved the compounds on offer one step softer for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The change means the softest tyre in Pirelli's range, the C5, is allocated to teams, with the soft tyre from last week becoming the medium tyre for this event.

“I think the soft tyre is pretty racy," Horner said. "It’s very much a one-lap special and could be tricky if we end up qualifying [on it]. The delta on it is quite large so car you afford not to take it in Q2?”