The gasps could be heard throughout the Principality when Mercedes-Benz chose to pit race leader Lewis Hamilton for a tyre change late in last night’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Amidst scenes team leader Niki Lauda described as “unacceptable”, the call effectively ‘gifted’ the race win to Hamilton’s team-mate Nico Rosberg leaving the Brit to finish third behind Sebastian Vettel.
But the on-track action was overshadowed by numerous meetings as F1’s powerbrokers struggle to define the sport’s future.
There are several burning issues and one of them – tyres – became a focus in Monaco when Martin Brundle tested a GP2 car fitted with experimental 18-inch Pirelli tyres (currently F1 cars run 13-inch rubber).
But Pirelli has competition in the race to be the sole tyres supplier in F1 from 2017 with French brand Michelin also in the picture and it will soon test wider, lower-profile F1 tyres on a Formula Renault 3.5 racer.
“Staying with 13-inch tyres is a form of treading ground,” revealed Michelin racing boss Pascal Couasnon, “Formula One has successfully become more modern in many areas but it is not a hotbed of innovation on the realm of tyres.”
Pirelli is keen to resign for F1 but pitlane gossip in Monaco suggested Michelin could even supply teams with tyres free of charge.
Companies wishing to tender for the F1 contract have until mid-June to lodge their application.
But the bigger picture to emerge from the recent F1 Strategy Group meeting and a meeting in Monaco last Friday between Mercedes’ Niki Lauda, McLaren’s Ron Dennis and Red Bull’s Christian Horner is customer cars.
With a buy-in of just $15 million for the package it is an idea that F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has endorsed.
“I’ve been pushing, pushing, pushing for single chassis, single engine,” Ecclestone said. “So you do that with four or five teams and leave the constructors alone. “
Ecclestone’s logic is smaller teams would thus not be forced to hire ‘pay drivers’ as their budgets would largely be funded by his various F1 management companies.
“I want these customer teams to go racing for $70 million and most of that money they already get from us,” Ecclestone revealed.
But the idea faces strong opposition from team like Sauber and Force India who reckon they will be punted to the ‘second division’ leaving Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Red Bull, McLaren and presumably Williams in the ‘Premier League’.
Without doubt something needs to be done quickly as the word in Monaco was that Lotus, Force India, Sauber and Manor all have their backs to the wall and may not have enough finances to see-out this season.
Lauda favours the manufacturers making two extra cars each for supply to customer teams.
That would probably see Mercedes-Benz aligned with Lotus, Ferrari with Sauber, Red Bull with Torro Rosso, McLaren with Manor and Williams with Force India.
