Pirelli's top Formula 1 boss has responded to concerns raised by Lewis Hamilton about the plan to ban tyre blankets.
Currently, teams can use the electric-powered warmers to raise the temperature of the tyres while the car is in the garage and on the grid. It helps make sure they are warm enough to provide grip for the cars in the first place.
But they use a significant amount of energy and, amid the sport's efforts to reduce emissions, this is something which F1 chiefs do not like. So the plan is to outlaw them from next season and, in preparation, Pirelli has been developing a new batch of tyres which heat up quickly without the use of the blankets.
