Schumacher Says Pirelli Tires are Like Driving on 'Raw Eggs'

Saying Michael Schumacher is unimpressed with this season's Pirelli tires in Formula 1 would be a massive understatement. In a recent interview, Schumacher described driving on the tires as like driving on "raw eggs."

Schumacher criticizes the tires because the drivers are not able to push the cars to their limit on the new Pirellis. The limit of the tires is far under the limit of the cars in his opinion, and the drivers are unable to drive at 10/10ths. 

"I just think that they're playing a much too big effect because they are so peaky and so special that they don't put our cars or ourselves to the limit. We drive like on raw eggs and I don't want to stress the tires at all. Otherwise you just overdo it and you go nowhere," said Schumacher in an interview with CNN. 

The Pirelli tires this season degrade quickly meaning drivers has to conserve rubber during the race. Notable examples of this include Kimi Raikonnen losing three spots in one lap in China when his tires ran out of grip. 

"We have luckily got one win under our belt. I was a bit unlucky in that race as we could have got a 1-2 without doubt, but it proves that we have made a huge step because you have to consider where we came from last year - it was not what we were really looking for. Starting the Silver Arrows new generation, for two years we had medium success and finally we managed a victory. I am pretty sure we can have other good races this year – being on the podium and maybe being on top of the podium," said Schumacher. 

In testing last week at Mugello, the Mercedes cars were consistently in the middle of the pack with Lotus and Red Bull in the lead. However, Formula 1 testing is never exactly an accurate measurement of the cars' performance. We will have to wait for the Spanish grand prix this weekend to see how big of a role tires play in the result, and if testing shook up the  performance of the teams. 

Mixed Reactions in Formula 1 after Mugello Test

Source: Autosport