Team bosses Fred Vasseur and Toto Wolff have expressed their initial concerns regarding the proposed F1 tyre warmer ban.
Pirelli is currently in the midst of a key tyre test at Silverstone, where it is gathering data ahead of a Formula 1 Commission meeting.
At that meeting, sign-off for the proposed ban will come before being enshrined into the regulations through the FIA World Motor Sport Council for next season.
The Formula 1 Commission meets quarterly and includes representatives from the teams, commercial rights holder, and the FIA.
It is an important part of the sport’s regulatory framework, through which rule changes are proposed and agreed upon before being submitted to the WMSC.
It, therefore, can defer the introduction of a ban on tyre warmers, approve it, or scrap the idea entirely.
“In the normal circumstances that we did the test, I think it was Bahrain, that it went pretty well,” said Ferrari boss Vasseur.
“But the concern is not this one. The concern is that when we will go on the low-track energy and you will have cold conditions, in the extreme conditions, for example, Las Vegas.
“If you go, you race in the night, and it’s four degrees; what could be the outcome of this?
“I think on 95 percent of the conditions it will be okay, and they are doing a good job,” he added.
“I think a couple teams did a test and it went pretty well, but we have also to anticipate what could be the situation in the extreme conditions.
“This, we have to wait for the report from Mr Pirelli.”
The motivation behind the ban is to drive down the sport’s carbon impact as it pushes towards its target of being net zero by 2030.
It’s argued the warmers use energy that could be saved if tyres are developed with that in mind.
F1 has already introduced wet weather tyres that do not use warmers.
“Taking team-specific thoughts out of it, at the end, we want a good show and we need to listen to the drivers – not to one but everyone and see what their opinion is on tyres without warmers,” said Wolff over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
“But I tend to agree with the drivers that, why are we making experiments that can potentially create a safety hazard?
“We’ve seen in WEC how long that can go, in Spa, so what is it we want to achieve?
“Is that we like not spending energy on tyre heaters for wet tyres that we use that we don’t use at all during the year, very little, only.
“Risk and rewards. My understanding in my life is that risk and reward need to be well measured, and I don’t think there is a great reward on making experiments in Formula 1 cars with drivers there for the fun of it.”
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