Romain Grosjean believes using old tyres during any standing restart following a safety car could induce ‘carnage’, with the Frenchman having experienced the procedure for the first time at the end of Wednesday’s second test day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The Haas F1 Team driver struggled for grip when taking up his spot on the grid, and whereas on a normal start with fresh tyres he was able to get up to eighth gear before needing to brake, he struggled to reach fourth with old tyres, and he likens the experience to driving in wet conditions on dry weather tyres.
“To me it could be carnage,” Motorsport.com quotes Grosjean as saying. “You could lose the car in a straight line. Honestly, I was not having much fun, just trying to upshift and downshift was tricky.
“[Valtteri] Bottas was in front of me and was not having much fun either. It’s undriveable. I was one of the first cars to come on the grid, so I stay there with Bottas a long time.
“When we restarted it is like it is raining [and we are] on slicks. Every time you upshift the rear wheel spins, every time you downshift the rear locks.”
Grosjean does not feel it would a problem at all tracks or in all conditions, but he does believe that some circumstances, drivers will struggle to get the temperature back into their tyres once the race gets back underway, and the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director says he will speak with the groups chairman Alexander Wurz about his concerns.
“Some tracks it’s fine, you can generate the temperature [in the tyres],“ said Grosjean. “Canada [is good but] here in those conditions [or] in China, I’m not sure you’re going to get that temperature back.
“I’m just going to say that in my experience I feel like it’s dangerous. Maybe the others don’t feel the same but I don’t feel confident going with cold tyres.”
