motorsport director Paul
Hembery as saying there would not be enough time to prepare new,
wider tyres planned for 2017 if the governing FIA's Formula One
commission stalled on approving rule changes.
Pirelli won a tender for the 2017-19 contract in October but that
has yet to be signed off with the International Automobile
Federation (FIA) due to the testing issues.
"When I land (in Europe after the Chinese Grand Prix), if I don't
have an email confirming it's approved, or something else positive,
then you will be calling me for a different story," said Hembery.
"This is it. We cannot do our job without this. We cannot deliver.
We are being asked to make very significant changes, by changing the
driveability of the tyres."
Hembery and the FIA were not immediately available for comment.
Motorsport.com said Pirelli had written to the FIA earlier in April
to make clear that it would withdraw from the 2017-19 contract if
the test program was not sorted immediately.
The website said FIA race director Charlie Whiting had recently
visited senior Pirelli representatives in Milan to push the testing
agreement forward.
It added, however, that an agreement had been reached in Shanghai,
during the weekend's third round of the championship, for five teams
to join a program to run from July for a period of 25 car days.
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"There are big changes happening. We are being asked to make big
changes, the drivers are asking for change - and yet we are being
left without the tools to do it. People can argue we don't need to
test, but we do," said Hembery.
Formula One is preparing for major rule changes next season aimed at
making cars faster, harder to drive and with more downforce.
As part of the plans, wider tyres will be subjected to heavier
loading and faster cornering speeds.
Teams are currently subject to strict limits on track testing before
and during the season but the regulations now allow for 12 days of
tyre testing. Pirelli also want clarification on what cars and
drivers they can use.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Gareth Jones)
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