Schumacher: “Glad to have started the debate on tyres”

Michael Schumacher said he was happy to have triggered the debate on Pirelli Formula 1 tyres, indicated by the seven-time world champion as too much of a determining factor.

The German had been very critical of the Italian supplier after the Bahrain GP, ​​accusing Pirelli of making it impossible for the riders to push hard during the races and forcing them to preserve the tires as much as possible.

Pirelli responded to Schumacher by reiterating that it had supplied the type of tires requested by the FIA.

“Obviously we touched on a topic and then the debate continued. I'm quite happy to have started a discussion about the influence that one component or another should have in F1. I said that in my opinion a certain component should be more balanced for everyone, rather than for a small minority."

Schumacher denied being frustrated at not being able to make the most of the tyres: “It certainly has nothing to do with frustration because I'm certainly not frustrated. I started 22nd and finished tenth in Bahrain, I think it was a positive result, and everything that happened before that was out of my control. It doesn't have to do with me directly, it's a general discussion that I wanted to start and it's not just up to me to decide which direction we need to go in, but I'm certainly very happy to develop together with our partners and Pirelli is an important partner."