Jenson Button is certain the 2013 Pirelli Formula 1 tires will offer a fair playing field despite their high degradation.
Although the rate at which tires lose performance has been a dominant theme of preseason testing so far, Button said that there has been no problem understanding how to get the rubber working, unlike last year.
"This year is more difficult in terms of graining than last year, but in terms of understanding the tire it's a lot easier," he said. "You can get it in its working range, and you know by lap three or four it's going to start graining.
"Compared to last season, it's more of a fair playing field. Last year there were teams who could the tires working but not know why. It was just because their cars worked with those tires. Other teams really had to fight to get those tires to work. They were really on a knife-edge.
"It took us six or seven months to really get a handle on the tires, like a lot of teams, whereas these tires are different. They're much easier to understand and easier to get in their working range."
But Red Bull's Mark Webber believes the revised tires still have potential to deliver 'random' results in another way. He argued that the anticipated high number of pit stops and difficulty in finding grip increased the prospect of top teams tripping up.
"We know when you have multiple stops and a lot of degradation in the races, there's more chance for things to go wrong, so there can be mixed results," said Webber.