Red Bull Racing has backed the job that Pirelli is doing in Formula 1 this year, saying it would be impossible for the company to make tires that made everyone happy.
Amid much debate in F1 about the impact tires are having on the racing after Michael Schumacher's criticisms about their current characteristics, Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner said he has no concerns about the situation.
"The problem is that they [Pirelli] have 12 teams asking for 12 different things, and you will never have a product that satisfies everyone's request," Horner said when asked about his feelings on the Pirelli situation. "Ultimately, as a tire supplier for F1, the product is the same for everybody."
Horner admits that understanding tires is proving to be a key factor in achieving success this year, but he does not think that is a bad thing for F1.
"It is the same for everybody and it is ultimately healthy for F1 to have a single tire supplier," he explained. "In years gone by, when there were two tire suppliers in some instances teams would sometimes not have access to tires that were the preferred ones. It is an added challenge and certainly from the fans' point of view it has produced some very exciting races this year."
Horner also reckons that the importance of tires – and how big an influence they can have on performance – is meaning teams are not putting so much effort into bringing aggressive car developments.
"I think that teams have been looking for development avenues and trying to understand the complexity and characteristics of the cars without blown diffusers. And certainly the characteristics of how the tires are behaving is driving teams in their development directions."