Originally Posted by snoweyowl:
“This has reminded me of one of my issues with modern F1. I have always thought that tyre heaters were pointless and stupid. Everybody has them so nobody gets any advantage from them. Also I remember the days before tyre heaters when cars leaving the pits on new tyres were quite slow for a couple of laps which added to the entertainment. They're just another added cost for teams and really need to be banned.”
“This has reminded me of one of my issues with modern F1. I have always thought that tyre heaters were pointless and stupid. Everybody has them so nobody gets any advantage from them. Also I remember the days before tyre heaters when cars leaving the pits on new tyres were quite slow for a couple of laps which added to the entertainment. They're just another added cost for teams and really need to be banned.”
Tyre warmers aren't there to provide an "advantage".
They're there to heat the tyres so that they provide grip immediately, without having to be heated via use.
If we were still in the Bridgestone era, where tyres were designed to be, erm, good then there'd certainly be an argument for banning tyre warmers.
As it is, though, Pirelli are under orders to build tyres that fall apart within a few laps so tyre warmers are a necessity to avoid a situation where a driver goes out on cold tyres, ruins them within a couple of laps and then is forced to replace them again.
And let's not forget that you've also got to consider the fact that the drivers are only allowed a limited number of tyres and that F1 always faces criticism whenever the cars end up going slower than junior formulae.
Sure, a driver could be forced to use cold tyres but then you'd get people whining that the cars were going too slowly or if they tried to go quickly too soon they'd ruin the tyres and not have enough to last through a race weekend.
Dunno if the proposed F1 ban on tyre warmers is still going ahead but, if it does, Pirelli are going to have to re-engineer their tyres substantially and, when that happens, you can bet your house that some team will find a way to take advantage of the new tyres in a way that'll lead to people moaning.





JB does a Maldo on Maldo
