Pirelli chief explains to Vettel that there is nothing wrong with rain tire

After the rain race in Monaco, Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel sounded very critical of Pirelli's rain tires. The German called the tires too hard for the track. Pirelli chief Mario Isola contradicted the four-time world champion.

Vettel grabbed the last point to be had in Monaco. The German finished eleventh but got away with the last point because of Esteban Ocon's time penalty. The race in Monaco was started on the blue rain tire, which Vettel criticized a lot. The rain tire was said to be too hard for the track and he called the tire "basically just worthless.

The rubber that Vettel is so critical of comes from Pirelli. The head of the tire manufacturer's sports section, Isola, contradicted the F1 driver and explained to Motorsport-magazin.com what was possibly going on: "The blue tire is different from the Intermediate, but it is not much harder. The tests we did showed that the tires have the same characteristics as last year's. We also tried to keep the 'crossover moment' of the tires the same as last year."

By the 'crossover moment' the Italian means the transition from the Full Wet to the Intermediate. According to Isola, it is due to Monaco that the crossover time was somewhat different than at other circuits. According to the Pirelli chief, it is not due to a faulty tire or the temperatures. Isola comes up with the simple explanation, "It's mainly because of the asphalt. This is a real street circuit with street asphalt. It is therefore much less rough than asphalt on a race track. Therefore, less grip can be generated by the tires."