Formula 1 News: 'Artificial' tire rule to 'destroy' Qatar GP

(GMM) Ayao Komatsu (pictured) has sharply criticized Pirelli’s decision to impose mandatory tire-stint limits at next weekend’s Qatar GP – a move that guarantees at least two pitstops and eliminates all strategic variation.

Pirelli’s 25-lap cap on each tire set, announced early this week, was introduced after renewed concerns over structural wear at Losail. But the Haas team boss believes the solution goes too far.

“I don’t agree with those artificial limits,” Komatsu said in Las Vegas.

“Pirelli is just scared after last year’s problems. With the one-stopper, they thought ‘They’re not going to do that, are they? Oh no – they are’.

“Now they’ve imposed a limit that makes a one-stopper impossible.”

According to Komatsu, the issue isn’t one-stop races – it’s the loss of strategic divergence.

“I don’t think we should do this in a sport,” he continued. “We often talk about avoiding boring one-stoppers, but artificial rules, as we saw before in Monaco and Qatar, destroy the race.”

He pointed to recent grands prix as examples of how variability naturally produces drama.

“Look at Brazil and Mexico – you immediately see how exciting a race becomes when tyre wear makes the difference between one or two stops, or even two or three,” he said. “When multiple strategies are viable, that’s when a race becomes interesting. That’s what Pirelli should strive for.”

Komatsu fears next weekend will mirror the heavily restricted 2023 Qatar GP, when an 18-lap maximum forced every driver into identical three-stop strategies.

“That race in Qatar was just bad,” he said. “Everyone gets exactly the same pitstop window. As soon as you introduce something artificial, everyone draws the same conclusion.”

He also referenced this year’s Monaco GP, another event where prescriptive conditions eliminated any meaningful variation.

“I don’t think this will work,” he said bluntly. “You saw it in Monaco this year as well.”

The criticism lands at a sensitive moment, with the FIA admitting it is still considering broader mandatory two-stop rules from 2026 – but has yet to gain agreement from teams.