Lauda - Teams should stay out of 2014 F1 tyre question

Sergio Pérez & Niki Lauda at podium ceremony Monza, Italy (2012)

F1 teams should accept the chosen specification of next year's Pirelli tyres.

That is the claim of Niki Lauda, who was speaking to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport amid reports the 2014 tyres might be slightly bigger and wider next year to suit the higher torque of the new V6 engines.

It had emerged that while Renault and Ferrari want the 2014 specification to remain the same as in 2013, F1's other engine supplier Mercedes - rumoured to have a power advantage next year - wants the bigger tyres.

"It's a very important question," Mercedes chairman Lauda said.

The very latest reports suggest that the FIA has actually decided to keep next year's tyre specification largely the same as in 2013.

But Lauda had added: "Charlie Whiting wrote to all the teams that Pirelli wants a larger diameter and wider tyres.

"The way I understand it, it is now decided by the FIA alone."

He said the teams and suppliers' only role should be to give Pirelli all the data the official tyre supplier requests.

"If not, we should not be surprised if we stand in Melbourne next year complaining again about the tyres.

"Pirelli should determine what next year's tyres look like without the influence of the teams. With the new cars and engines, it is important that we have stable tyres."

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