Andrew Benson answers the tyre question here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68649304
Andrew: It’s not for me to say what the F1 rules should be, but I can tell you that there is no appetite among F1 stakeholders for a ‘tyre war’, as it is known when there is more than one tyre supplier in competition.
But to address the central issue in the question – ie tyre degradation and management – it does not require multiple suppliers to stop those being such an issue as they are now.
The Pirelli tyres supplied to F1 are most unlike what might be called a typical racing tyre, in that they are very thermally sensitive, and typically require gentle treatment to prevent them overheating. If they become too hot, then the grip never tends to come back.
This means drivers can hardly ever – even on qualifying laps – push to the limit. This is a very abnormal situation – and was certainly not the case when predecessors Michelin, Bridgestone and Goodyear were in F1 in the 1990s and 2000s, whether there was competition or not. And it’s not how the tyres behave in other categories where Pirelli is not the supplier, for example in endurance racing or IndyCars.
Pirelli has repeatedly been asked in recent years to stop the tyres behaving in this way, and in addition to widen their working temperature window as well as to make the ‘extreme’ wet tyre better.
F1 had the opportunity to change tyre suppliers last year, when Bridgestone made a bid to return. Many people were pushing F1 chairman Stefano Domenicali to make the switch, but in the end he preferred to stick with Pirelli.
