Lewis Hamilton has expressed major concerns about the FIA’s plan to get rid of tyre blankets in 2024 after testing a new slick compound at Circuit Paul Ricard earlier this year. Tyres are currently pre-warmed in Formula One prior to drivers leaving the pit lane, although this is set to change at the end of the current season when the blankets used by teams are expected to be banned.
A phase-out of tyre warming equipment has been taking place in recent years and Pirelli have been pushing to develop compounds optimised to work without pre-heating ahead of next season, with Hamilton recently getting the chance to test them alongside Mercedes team-mate George Russell in France. However, the 38-year-old is yet to be convinced by the FIA’s plans for 2024 and insisted on Saturday that the changes will pose some major safety risks unless significant alterations are made.
“I think it’s dangerous,” Hamilton told The Race. “I’ve tested the no blankets and there’s going to be an incident at some stage, so on a safety factor I think it’s the wrong decision. You have to drive multiple laps to get the tyres to work.
“The whole argument is that taking away the blankets is for going more sustainable and more green. In actual fact we just use more fuel to get temperature into the tyres.
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“More concerning is just when you go out, the car is skating around, it’s very twitchy, and if there’s someone else who’s on tyres that are working you could easily collide with them. It’s a pointless exercise.”
The FIA are yet to officially approve the proposed banning of tyre blankets for 2024, with a final decision set to be made before their self-imposed deadline at the end of July. The current rules will be retained as the default for 2024 as things stand while the governing body work alongside Pirelli to evaluate the technical and safety requirements of running without them.
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Max Verstappen previously echoed Hamilton’s concerns by warning that high-speed accidents may become more frequent if tyre blankets are outlawed in 2024, with the Dutchman having driven on slicks that were warmed to just 50 degrees as part of a Pirelli test at last year’s United States Grand Prix.
“I think we’re going to have a lot of crashes, that I know already compared to what we have at the moment,” said Verstappen at the time.
“Also, your tyre degradation is going to be completely different because your tyres are very cold. You are sliding around a lot in the first few laps. Your tyre pressures are going to go through the roof, so your tyres are going to degrade a lot more. At the moment I don’t really enjoy it, but a lot of drivers say the same and we have to find a solution to that.”
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