Sunday’s Malaysian grand prix has raised fears that formula one may now be too confusing for spectators.<\/p>\n
“It was a really confusing race in a way, trying to understand the pitstops,” said Jenson Button, who finished second behind Sepang winner Sebastian Vettel.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think anyone really knew who was going to finish behind Seb,” he added.<\/p>\n
The confusion was caused by the Pirelli tyres and how the drivers managed their degradation over a range of mainly 3 and 4-stop strategies apiece.<\/p>\n
“I need to analyse this race with the engineers because, to be honest, I don’t really understand what happened,” admitted Jaime Alguersuari.<\/p>\n
Button expanded: “It is complicated and I think at this point of the season it’s going to be because there’s a lot that we’re trying to learn ourselves on the circuit.<\/p>\n
“If we had one tyre for the whole race and didn’t have pit stops, would it be exciting?\u00a0 I don’t know.<\/p>\n
“It made the racing (in Malaysia) exciting and as the season goes on we will realise and understand the tyres a little bit more every race,” said the McLaren driver.<\/p>\n
Paul Hembery said the kind of racing witnessed at Sepang was exactly what Pirelli had been asked to design through its 2011 tyres.<\/p>\n
“We either go back to a one-stop strategy, if that’s what they feel is better, or we continue to do what we have been asked to do,” he said.<\/p>\n
On Friday, drivers tested an experimental hard compound but Hembery warned that it might be too “conservative” if rolled out for racing.<\/p>\n
“It’s hard for us — we are in the middle,” he said.\u00a0 “I am not being defensive because we are doing what we have been asked to do.<\/p>\n
“If I am going to be criticised for making the races more exciting, I don’t know what to say,” he told the Telegraph.<\/p>\n
Nick Heidfeld, whose gentle driving style was credited for his podium finish, and Fernando Alonso said Sunday’s race was good.<\/p>\n
“The races are more exciting than last year,” Fernando Alonso told AS newspaper.\u00a0 “For us (teams and drivers) it’s a bit more of a hassle, but the racing is better.”<\/p>\n
Added Heidfeld: “It’s probably more complicated to understand from the outside, at the same time the show is better.”<\/p>\n
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