Pirelli’s new 60 per cent scale wind tunnel tyres could be to blame for some teams’ troubles in 2013, according to a technical expert.<\/p>\n
Top team McLaren faltered badly over the winter in switching from the winning 2012 car to the new and uncompetitive MP4-28.<\/p>\n
And it’s been a similar story at Williams and Sauber, who last year were among the standouts of the midfield and are now conspicuously scrambling for pace in 2013.<\/p>\n
Referring to McLaren and Sauber, Swiss newspaper Blick’s technical expert Mike Hammer writes: “Both teams now believe they know where the problem lies.<\/p>\n
“It has to do with the new Pirelli tyres.\u00a0 They are more angular than in 2012, and then deform differently in the corners, which has a great influence on the aerodynamics.<\/p>\n
“Millimetres play a role, but the 60 per cent tyre for the wind tunnel models have led McLaren and Sauber astray,” he added.<\/p>\n
An unnamed McLaren engineer agreed: “They (the Pirelli tyre models) are much worse than last year.”<\/p>\n
Faced with the latest criticism, Pirelli’s Paul Hembery insisted: “We are talking about eleven teams with eleven different wind tunnels.<\/p>\n
“It is not easy to build good 60 per cent tyres,” he added.<\/p>\n
The theory would explain why teams who made significant changes over the winter have disproportionately suffered so far this season.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn has defended struggling team rookie Esteban Gutierrez.\u00a0 On Saturday, the young Mexican failed even to make it out of ‘Q1’.<\/p>\n
“Clearly neither he nor we can be happy so far with the results that he’s shown,” she said.<\/p>\n
“But we have been very convinced, and still are, of his talent, so it’s for us now to make sure that he has the surrounding (environment) that he can develop.”<\/p>\n
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