Pirelli’s tires have been on the cautious side in recent seasons, tackling the sport’s fastest generation of cars with more durable compounds that offer less grip but also don’t offer the same grip as earlier offerings Fall off a performance cliff.

But the Italian manufacturer’s approach to safety has gradually undermined the team’s ability to adopt a different strategy. This was exemplified by last month’s Australian Grand Prix, where nearly every team was forced into the same one-stop after an early red flag.

At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg ran almost the entire race on Pirelli’s hard compound, only to end the race with two different tire compounds. pit stop.

Initial criticism of F1’s lack of overtaking in Baku centered on the decision to shorten its main DRS zone by 100 metres, but Haas team principal Steiner believes F1 also needs to revisit its tire compound needs.

“I think we need to look at the tyres,” he said in Miami when asked by Autosport about overtaking in F1.

“When we got off, we always complained. When we didn’t get off, we always complained.

“We need to decide what we want because I think Pirelli offers both ways and then we say there are too many now, so it’s always difficult.

“But I don’t think we should jump to conclusions after last weekend’s race (in Baku). We’ve had good results in overtaking this year, so we should look at them and try to replicate them, not just to last time. What happened felt unsatisfactory for weeks.

“Obviously we all expected the red flag, the safety car, but nothing happened. But I’m pretty sure if something needs to be done, we’ll do it easier. It’s never going to be easy to overtake.”

tires in a tire blanket

Photography: Steven Tee / motorsport pictures

The importance of strategic differences was highlighted in Miami, where indeed more drivers were overtaking on different pit stop strategies.

But with performance levels across the grid closer than ever due to 2022 regulations, it has been argued that the difference in lap times between the various cars will not be enough to get rid of the dreaded DRS train that happens when drivers don’t This creates a sufficient speed advantage to use DRS to overtake.

Steiner agreed that reduced overtaking could be a by-product of the new rules, but warned that a downforce-driven championship like F1 would never see the level of overtaking seen in other series.

“It’s always difficult with a single-seater with a big wing – overtaking is always a problem,” he added.

“Sometimes it’s better. I think last year was better than this year. I don’t think we helped ourselves to shorten the DRS zone in Baku, but it’s always difficult.

“I think it’s one of those things, you never have a Formula 1 car, overtaking on two-tenths of an incremental lap time, it’s always going to take more.”