Pirelli management approves 2014 F1 foray - Hembery

Jun.29 (GMM) Pirelli is inching towards a deal to stay in formula one beyond its 2013 contract.

The Italian marque's F1 chief Paul Hembery revealed at Silverstone that new contracts with the commercial rights holders and most of the teams are in place for 2014.

And the latest step is the full support of Pirelli's upper management, he added.

"The company has had many internal discussions about our work, and fortunately we were able to convince the leadership that we should stay," Hembery is quoted by the Russian website f1news.ru.

"We have some good ideas to make further progress and will try to implement them.

"We have a contract with the owner of the commercial rights and the majority of the teams, so if they are all satisfied with our work, then we will continue."

The big missing link is a new deal with the FIA, whose president Jean Todt is rumoured to favour Michelin's return to F1.

Hembery said Pirelli has decided not to appeal the FIA international tribunal's decision to reprimand the tyre marque for the secret Mercedes tyre test.

Pirelli was reportedly furious with the outcome and threatening even to sue, but Hembery said "the most important thing is our continued participation in the championship".

However, Pirelli is still unhappy with many aspects of its involvement in F1, such as the ability for a single team to veto changes to the tyre specification, such as the shelved move from a steel to a kevlar belt to minimise delaminations.

"We really have to think about other decision-making mechanisms," Hembery is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport, "so that we are able to respond quickly to a problem.

"Surely majority rule would be better than (the need for) unanimity," he said.

Auto Motor und Sport also reported that the 'test-gate' scandal has not deterred Pirelli from organising more tyre development tests with selected F1 teams.

"We have no problem to meet the conditions of the federation," said Hembery.