Crash.Net F1 News

Mercedes pair confident in Pirelli changes

3 July 2013

Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton say they are confident in the changes being made by Pirelli following the failures that occurred during the British Grand Prix.

The tyre supplier confirmed on Tuesday that new tyres would be introduced in Germany this weekend, with work underway to develop new rubber to be then introduced at the Hungaroring later this month.

Rosberg was one of the main beneficiaries of the incidents that occurred at Silverstone as he took his second victory of the campaign, and the German said he was sure that Pirelli would get it right when it comes to the tyres being provided at the Nurburgring.

The German also admitted that confidence was on a high on the back of his second career win, with the 28-year-old now feeling Mercedes is becoming a true front-runner for success.

"I'm confident that the right decisions will be taken," he was quoted by Reuters. "I think they will have everything under control by Nurburgring which will be good. I'm very excited to drive again because our car is so good at the moment.

"It's going to be a bit of a learning process but I'm confident that with the car we have it doesn't matter. I think in general we have a very quick car so I'm confident that we can stay where we are more or less.

"Slowly but surely we are dropping into the role of being favourites which is fantastic.”

By contrast, Hamilton missed out on the chance to win his home race for the second time when he suffered a left-rear blow-out in the early stages of the Silverstone event, which he was leading having started on pole position.

While the Briton said he was sure that Pirelli was taking the right steps to resolve its current issues, he was also quick to urge caution before having the chance to sample the new construction tyre around the Nurburgring circuit.

"I think it's still a concern and it's still something that we need to see how it goes really," he said. "We'll see how the weekend goes and I'm sure that they are taking the right steps to make it safer. I'm satisfied, but when we get there we'll have a better idea of how it is for us and everyone's in the same boat. I'm glad that action has been taken."