Martin Brundle has hammered Formula One 's idea to ban tyre blankets and claimed it "doesn't make sense" - after Lewis Hamilton previously criticised the move.
The grid could see radical changes next season with environmental targets in mind and Pirelli is preparing for the potential ban on tyre blankets, which will greatly reduce tyre temperatures. Drivers have already been left unimpressed by the lowering of the temperature and Brundle maintains that the thinking is flawed.
Colder tyres give off less grip, which is problematic for the drivers and can often lead to crashes. The Sky Sports pundit has highlighted how an increase in collisions due to cold tyres would negate the savings made by ridding of tyre blankets ahead of possible shakeup.
He tweeted: "Doesn’t make sense for F1 to ban tyre heaters. Cars will get crashed negating any cost savings and efficiencies. Drivers/marshals at higher risk. The most expensive and inefficient way of heating racing tyres during testing, practice, qualifying and racing has to be using an F1 car."
The issues were highlighted in the recent World Endurance Championship race at Spa last weekend which saw Ferrari driver Antonio Fuoco, among others, crash when exiting the pits on unheated tyres.
Hamilton has been outspoken about the potential ban, citing it as a "pointless exercise" by claiming the fuel need to heat up the tyres would undo the work of banning the blankets whilst also stating a crash would be inevitable.
He previously told Autosport : “I think it’s dangerous. I’ve tested the no blankets, and there is going to be an incident at some stage. So, I think it is the wrong decision. You have to drive multiple laps to get the tyres to work. The whole argument is that taking away the blankets is going more sustainable and more green.
"But in actual fact we just burn more fuel to get the temperature into the tyres. The more concern is when you go out: you are skating around and it is very twitchy. If someone else is on tyres that are working, you can easily collide with them. So, it is a pointless exercise.”
Max Verstappen holds a similar view and has previously said: “I think we're going to have a lot of crashes. That I know already compared to what we have at the moment. But yeah, it's tough."
Back in 2019 Formula One announced its plan to have a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030. The ambitious target would cover the cars, on-track activity and the sporting operations.
