OCTOBER 18, 2018

Bottas hopes for better tyres in 2019

Valtteri Bottas says he hopes Pirelli supplies better tyres next year.

Valtteri Bottas, Japanese GP 2018
© RV Press

Valtteri Bottas says he hopes Pirelli supplies better tyres next year.

The Finn says tyre wear and blistering has been excessive in 2018, forcing drivers to overly manage their races rather than race flat out.

"We have had a lot of management to do in practically every race this season and especially in the last few," Brazil's Globo quotes the Mercedes driver as saying.

"Once we reach a certain temperature, we know it will happen so we don't push it, we just try not to exceed those temperatures."

He said the only recourse is often to slow down, "which is not ideal when there is so much potential in these cars".

Hankook, a Korean tyre manufacturer, has responded to the FIA's tender to take over from Pirelli from 2020.

Bottas says he hopes Pirelli gets on top of the tyre temperature issue for 2019.

"I participated in some of the tests for next year's tires a few weeks ago and I'm sure they are working hard," he said. "I hope it's a bit better."

(GMM)