Pirelli confirms Canada tyre changes are minimal

Lewis Hamilton winner of the F1 GP of Canada 2012

Pirelli on Monday essentially confirmed reports the F1 supplier will now make only minimal changes to its tyres for Canada next month and beyond.

After the waves of controversy and criticism following the Spanish grand prix, the Italian marque announced it would be making structural and compound changes for Montreal that should reduce the number of pitstops per race.

But, after Lotus and Ferrari sided strongly against Red Bull and Mercedes, the FIA reportedly also hit back behind the scenes, confirming that the rules say changes like that can only be made on grounds of safety, unless the teams unanimously agree.

So Pirelli on Monday is backtracking, with motor sport boss Paul Hembery telling Reuters F1's official supplier only wants to make changes "with minimal disturbance to the sporting equity".

"The changes required would appear less than first envisaged," he added.

Hembery said some changes will still be made for Canada, but only to fix the problem of delaminating tyres.

"We're trying to find something that is sportingly equitable amongst the vast majority that allows us to rid ourselves of the tread (problem)," he confirmed.

"We're hopeful we can do that without making such a change that would radically alter the work of any team so far."

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