F1 is moving toward a total ban on tyre warmers beginning in 2024. The sport has already started tightening the rules by reducing the allowed temperature and the time teams can spend heating tyres, but more drastic changes are coming. This shift has caused friction with some drivers, most notably Lewis Hamilton. After trialing the proposed 2024 compounds, the champion warned that abandoning the blankets could compromise safety and serve little practical purpose.
Formula 1 has focused on the use of tyre warmers and is looking to ban them outright from the 2024 season onwards. Teams have already seen the maximum temperature allowed drop as well as a decrease in permitted time when using them but Pirelli and Formula 1 plan to do more. Despite the good intentions behind F1’s plans, it has been met with some unenthusiastic reactions from the drivers, in particular former champion Lewis Hamilton who had tested the proposed 2024 compound earlier this year, believed it was dangerous and pointless to ban the blankets.
Mario Isola, leading Pirelli, has addressed the safety issues brought up by Hamilton. According to Isola, the conditions during Hamilton's tests at Paul Ricard in early February were excessively cold. Furthermore, he emphasized that the rubber used during those sessions was an experimental version, not the final product intended for blanket-free operation.
Isola explained that eliminating tyre blankets is a long-term goal shared by the FIA, F1, the teams, and promoters as part of their broader mission to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. He stressed that every move toward sustainability counts, and removing the electricity-hungry warming blankets is a key step in reducing the sport's environmental footprint.
Isola also mentioned that prior to the Christmas break, the company focused on developing wet-weather tyres, as driver feedback from the previous year had been poor. They successfully developed a new compound that functions effectively without pre-heating. When compared against the old blanket-warmed tyres in cold conditions across three different tracks and three teams, the feedback from five different drivers was positive.
He wrapped up by stating that they intend to stop using blankets for wet tyres starting from the Imola race, a move that received official approval from the Formula 1 commission last Wednesday.
Eddie Jordan, the former F1 team principal, is confident that Lewis Hamilton isn't done yet. He believes the 38-year-old is still chasing a record eighth world title and has several seasons left in him, pointing to Fernando Alonso's enduring career as proof that drivers can remain competitive well into their late thirties and beyond.