Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has revealed fears over the "cost" of banning tyre blankets in F1. Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli is developing compounds for 2024 with the view to banning warming blankets as it aims to increase its sustainability in line with the sport's own goals. Blankets require electricity to power the heaters and a complete ban would take sustainability efforts past the current initiatives, which have seen pre-heated temperatures drop from 100 degrees Celsius to 70 degrees in recent years. The time for which tyres can be heated has also been reduced to two hours before use to help reduce the amount of electricity being used. But whilst the proposed ban is being touted for the right reasons, drivers have warned about the dangers of running on cold tyres and the increased risk of crashing. Asked for his view on the proposed ban, Horner told media, including RacingNews365.com : "I think we will reserve judgement until we've done a test. "Daniel is going to drive the car at the test and we'll get the feedback from that running. "I am sure Pirelli have made the right decision."
They do the job
"I don't think it is what the drivers want," added Horner. "My fear with these things is that when you think you are going to achieve something simplistically that would create better racing, then there will then be a whole lot of effort go into trying to heat tyres very quickly on out laps and so on that could drive a lot more cost. "Everybody has tyre blankets, they do the job. I think what we should be looking at is sustainable ways of powering those as opposed to removing them."
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