Two of
Formula 1's leading names have expressed their concerns about the sport's re-introduction of slick tyres next year and the ban on tyre warmers that will accompany the move.
The drivers have been trying out
Bridgestone's 2009-spec slicks – the first time
F1 has run such rubber in more than a decade – during this week's major group test in Barcelona ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of the month. There are growing fears, however, that the slick compounds are very difficult to get up-to-speed in the absence of tyre-warming blankets.
“That is something to work on,”
Ferrari ace
Felipe Massa told Spanish newspaper
Diario AS during the test, whilst adding that he found running on the new rubber ‘a pleasure'. “It could be very dangerous.”
Williams star
Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, is quoted by Swiss publication
Motorsport Aktuell as being worried about how long the slick tyres will take to warm up without the blankets, especially with the new regulations meaning F1 cars will produce far less downforce next year.
Some drivers believe cold slicks will be as much as ten seconds a lap slower than those already up to full racing speed, creating a potentially dangerous scenario as drivers exit the pit-lane during grands prix.
Rosberg pointed to Grand Prix Drivers' Association chairman and McLaren-Mercedes test driver Pedro de la Rosa as having told him that he nearly drove ‘straight into the wall' after leaving the pits on cold slicks in a recent test.
